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Overview
Fundamental Research Labs builds digital human agents through applied AI research. It creates autonomous agents capable of exhibiting human-like traits such as empathy, friendship, and fun, and makes them usable by individuals and enterprises. The first product is an agent that can play Minecraft with users, offering a friendly, interactive, and ongoing experience. The company scales infrastructure and advances research to support new technologies, and aims to deliver unique products to market. Its goal is to broaden what AI agents can do by making them more human-like and versatile, with a focus on interoperable, long-term autonomy.
About Fundamental Research Labs
Industries
Data & Analytics
Consumer Software
Enterprise Software
AI & Machine Learning
Company Size
11-50
Company Stage
Series A
Total Funding
$45.1M
Headquarters
San Francisco, California
Founded
2023
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- The August 2025 Series A raised $33 million from Prosus and Patrick Collison.
- ShortcutXL launch expanded into desktop generalist workflows, broadening usage beyond Excel web apps.
- The company is already charging users after trials, proving early willingness to pay.
What critics are saying
- Shortcut faces Microsoft Copilot and Google Workspace AI inside default enterprise workflows.
- The 2026 pivot toward Nexus dilutes the original digital-human narrative and confuses buyers.
- If enterprise tabular AI commoditizes, Fundamental loses pricing power and investor attention fast.
What makes Fundamental Research Labs unique
- Shortcut turns spreadsheets into autonomous analysts with traceable, parallel simulations.
- Fundamental Research Labs is building digital human agents, not generic chatbots.
- AWS partnership lets customers deploy Nexus directly from existing instances.
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Funding
Total Funding
$45.1M
Above
Industry Average
Funded Over
3 Rounds
Andreessen HorowitzIndustry standards
Benefits
Hybrid Work Options
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↓ -3%1 year growth
↑ 14%2 year growth
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SAN JOSE - Altera will cut 82 jobs in north San Jose, according to an official notice the tech company filed with the state Employment Development Department.
Prosus Ventures leads US$30 million in a Series A funding round in Fundamental Research Labs (formerly known as Altera.AL), an applied AI research company building long-term autonomous, collaborative AI agents, with participation from a16z Speedrun, Patron, First Spark, Factorial, VamosVentures, and angels including
Fundamental Research Labs, formerly known as Altera, secured $33 million in Series A funding led by Prosus, with participation from Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison. The company, founded by Dr. Robert Yang from MIT, focuses on AI applications across various fields and offers products like Fairies, an AI consumer assistant, and Shortcut, a spreadsheet-based agent. They aim to enhance productivity and plan to develop digital human technologies and robots in the future.
Prosus Ventures led a $30 million Series A funding round in Fundamental Research Labs, an AI research company focused on building autonomous, collaborative AI agents. The funding will help advance their research and expand their team. Fundamental Research Labs, co-founded by Dr. Robert Yang, has developed AI agents for complex tasks, including the Shortcut Excel agent, which outperformed human analysts in tests. This round follows a $9 million seed round, bringing total funding to over $40 million.
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About Fundamental Research Labs
Industries
Data & Analytics
Consumer Software
Enterprise Software
AI & Machine Learning
Company Size
11-50
Company Stage
Series A
Total Funding
$45.1M
Headquarters
San Francisco, California
Founded
2023
There are no jobs for Fundamental Research Labs right now.
Find jobs on Simplify and start your career today