A confluence of vastly improved technologies has moved artificial intelligence out of the sci-fi realm and into our daily lives. Natural Language Processing, neural networks with capability to learn and adapt, incredibly powerful computing devices — including the mobile phones that we walk around with all day — are transforming the way we travel, bank, and even how we interact with one another. But possibly the most significant impact A.I. could have on our immediate future is how work gets done.

This leap forward isn’t about the futuristic replacement of people in a workflow, but about human-assisted A.I. — integrating the expertise of people with the efficiency of algorithms. Advancements in human-assisted A.I. have the potential to deliver significant productivity gains across most every industry. And B12, a company that just raised its Series A financing, which we led, is among those leading innovation in this area.

B12 was founded by nearly life-long friends Nitesh Banta, a former member of our investment team, and Adam Marcus, an MIT Ph.D. in computer science. During his tenure at GC, Nitesh focused on identifying and supporting founders who were building businesses around CRM, web, and commerce. He introduced Adam to the GC family via Locu, Adam’s first company that helped SMBs build and maintain their online profiles. Locu went on to be acquired by GoDaddy.

With Locu, Nitesh was not only an investor, he was also instrumental in the formative days of the company when this powerful idea of integrating A.I. into workflows was transformed into a viable business. When Nitesh decided to join Adam on the founder side of the equation, we were nothing short of enthusiastic in our support.

B12 has already gained traction through their open source platform called Orchestra, which is built on research on how people and machines can work productively together. Using Orchestra as a substrate, the company built B12, a product that combines project management automation and a proprietary algorithmic design engine to make next generation web sites at DIY software prices.

At GC, we love backing ideas and founders from the very start. Through our years-long relationship with Nitesh and Adam, we were able to do just that with B12. We were happy to support their initial endeavor at the seed stage and are honored to be leading their Series A today.

Welcome (again) to the GC family!

— Larry Bohn & Team GC