Phaze, a start-up founded by the team behind remote desktop company Parsec, has raised $8.75m in a seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). The company announced the round on 4 November 2026.
Indie, NextView, Makers Fund and Lerer Hippeau also invested. Phaze did not disclose a valuation.
Martin Casado, a general partner at a16z, said in the release that the firm was excited to support the team again.
“The computer sitting on your desk shouldn't determine what compute you can access.”Benjy Boxer, co-founder and CEO, Phaze
What Phaze does
Phaze provides remote access to high-performance computers. Its main product is a remote desktop that lets designers and engineers run demanding 3D and design software on powerful machines held elsewhere, with what it says feels like a local experience.
It also offers an MCP server, which lets computer-use AI agents operate remote machines: moving through screens and applications as a person would. The Next Web reported that Phaze still labels the agent connection as experimental, and that agents get only the access their human users already have. In a demo, a Slack bot took an IT support request, logged into the user's computer and called in a person when it got stuck. Another example, Render Buddy, keeps watch over long-running jobs.
For IT departments, Phaze offers tools to manage workstations as shared infrastructure, including on-premises relays, directory sync, role-based controls and logs of connections and admin activity, Unite.AI reported. An enterprise REST API manages members, groups, machines and connection records. Connecting to a machine assigned to someone else requires approval.
"The computer sitting on your desk shouldn't determine what compute you can access," said chief executive and co-founder Benjy Boxer.
The case for shared machines
Phaze's argument is that companies waste money buying a top-end workstation for every employee and leaving it idle much of the time. Instead, they could pool machines and hand them out to staff or AI agents as needed. "High-end compute is too expensive to sit idle on individual desks," Casado said.
The company did not disclose pricing or name customers. Its website lists responsive input, 3D graphics, colour accuracy and multiple-monitor support for CAD and design work, which Unite.AI noted are company claims rather than independent benchmarks.
Demand for computers that agents can use has grown quickly. The Next Web pointed to Baseten's acquisition of Blaxel, which makes sandboxes for AI agents, and to Perplexity's software that turns a Mac mini into an always-on agent.
The Parsec team
Boxer and Chris Dickson built Parsec, a remote desktop business that Unity bought in 2021. The Next Web reported the price as $320m.
Phaze's release and Unite.AI say the company is based in Utah, although the release carries a New York dateline. It did not give its founding year or headcount. The company plans to spend the money on more engineers, faster product development and support for customer growth.
Company website: phaze.in