Ciridae, a startup that builds AI operating systems for mid-market companies, raised a $20m seed round led by Accel, Fortune reported on 11 May 2026. Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst took part, and Pulse 2 and TechIntelPro also listed Sunflower Capital and Backcountry Ventures. No valuation was disclosed.
The company was founded by Jack Soslow, its chief executive and a former Andreessen Horowitz partner, and Jack Weissenberger, chief technology officer. Pulse 2 added that Soslow was previously a data scientist at Meta, and that Weissenberger was head of machine learning at Tenyx.
“We're not building AI that's actually mowing the lawns.”Jack Weissenberger, co-founder, Ciridae
What Ciridae does
Fortune said Ciridae sells an AI operating system that replaces a company's customer relationship management, project management and working capital tools. It also helps with back-office problems and with local issues such as scheduling around workplace rivalries.
Pulse 2 said Ciridae embeds with each customer, turns its core workflows into AI-native software and runs that software in production. The company says implementations can take as little as two weeks, compared with a typical 18 months. It also launched the Ciridae AI Index, which rates private equity firms and their portfolio companies on readiness for AI transformation.
One example in Fortune was a commercial construction company in Dallas that cut its monthly close from two weeks to a single click.
Who the customers are
The target is what the company calls the real economy: mid-market businesses such as home services, construction, industrial distribution, healthcare, restoration and logistics. It will start with companies owned by private equity firms. Pulse 2 said its early customers include private equity funds with more than $1.3tn in assets under management, and named Knight Commercial as a customer. Bryan Knodel, chief financial officer of Knight Commercial, said Ciridae challenged the company to elevate its thinking.
Soslow told Fortune that Ciridae works with more than 20 partners and had high seven-figure revenue in 2025. Pulse 2 reported that the company reached high seven figures in run-rate revenue within six months of selling and has stayed cash-flow positive. Because the two outlets describe the figure differently, it is best read as an approximate company claim.
Pulse 2 said Ciridae hired its first employee in February 2025. The sources did not give a current headcount or the company's city.
The pitch to investors
Pulse 2 said the seed money will be used to expand the engineering team. The company's thesis is that the AI boom has largely overlooked mid-market firms.
Christine Esserman, an Accel partner, told Fortune: "Everybody's trying to focus on this top enterprise segment." In Pulse 2 she said the old playbook of financial engineering without operational transformation is breaking, and that AI is the new lever.
Weissenberger said: "We're not building AI that's actually mowing the lawns." Soslow told Fortune that many of the businesses most exposed to AI risk are least equipped to rearchitect themselves.
Company website: ciridae.com