When we look at how generative AI is being implemented across developer tools, it's mostly focused on generating code, like Github Copilot. Greptile, an early-stage startup launched by a group of Georgia Tech alumni, decided to take a different approach, using AI to help developers understand their codebase.
And rather than just using a chat interface, as most vendors do, the startup has added another unique twist by building an API that allows developers to connect to its codebase and build custom apps based on AI-driven queries. On Thursday, the company announced a $4 million seed round.
Daksh Gupta, CEO and co-founder of Greptile, says the Greptile bot is like having a highly experienced colleague who has a deep understanding of code. “So we're building AI tools that understand large enterprise codebases, because over time, when you have multiple programmers working on a codebase, it tends to become very difficult to understand,” Gupta told TechCrunch.
“The API basically has two parameters: one is to connect to the repositories you want to browse and make sure they're indexed. Once the repositories have been indexed by the system, you add natural language queries like how does authentication work in this code base,” he said.
The startup was founded last July after its founders came up with the idea to start a company at a hackathon. They released their product and quickly grew to around 100 customers paying $10-20 per month, which allowed them to apply and get into Y Combinator's Winter 24 batch.
But before founding Greptile, while still in college, the founders built a feedback management chatbot for businesses and raised enough funding to move to San Francisco, where they quickly realized they had major gaps in their knowledge when it came to starting a company.
“First, we made the classic mistakes: focusing on attracting investors instead of real customer needs; focusing on creating what seemed like a good startup idea instead of finding real problems that real people have and solving them with technology. We did all of that. And we learned the hard way that we shouldn't do that,” he said.
As we shifted our focus and got more serious, things started to come together. “Nobody told us that what you're doing is the purest form of capitalism. You're creating value for people, and therefore people are willing to pay you for the value that you create.”
Y Combinator taught them the lesson of being customer-centric: today, the company has 500 paying customers, including individuals, teams, and organizations.
As the company grows, the founders' goals become even bigger: “We want to give software teams the building blocks they need to build custom, bespoke AI development tools specific to how they configure their systems,” Gupta says.
Today's round was led by Initialized Capital and included participation from prominent angel investors across a range of industries.