/dev/agents, an AI startup founded in 2024, has raised $56 million in seed funding to develop an operating system for AI agents. According to press, the company is valued at $500 million, with investors betting on its potential to revolutionize AI development.
Founded by former Google and Stripe executives, /dev/agents is tackling what it sees as a critical barrier in AI innovation.
“Before Android, mobile development was incredibly difficult,” said co-founder and CEO David Singleton. “We’re now seeing the same challenge with AI—there’s immense promise, but it’s hard for developers to build anything truly impactful.”
The company’s cloud-based operating system will use generative AI to deliver personalized user experiences across devices, promising to make AI development more accessible and effective.
Why Investors Backed /dev/agents
The decision to invest in /dev/agents explains the importance of innovation and team expertise over long-established market presence.
A partner at Index Ventures, Nina Achadjian, highlighted the complexity and ambition of the project.
“It’s a super difficult technical problem and a really big idea,” she said. “If any team can succeed, it’s the team that built Android and Stripe from the ground up.”
CapitalG’s Jill Chase echoed these sentiments, emphasizing that such early-stage investments are rare for the firm.
“We only invest pre-product when the market opportunity is massive and the team is exceptional,” she explained. “In this case, both criteria were met.”
A World-Class Team
The founding team’s credentials played a significant role in attracting investors:
David Singleton (CEO): Former CTO of Stripe and AndroidWear leader at Google.
Hugo Barra (CPO): Former VP of Android product management at Google and head of Meta’s Oculus VR.
Ficus Kirkpatrick (CTO): Early Android engineer and former VP of AR/VR at Meta.
Nicholas Jitkoff: Former principal designer for Google Chrome, with leadership roles at Dropbox and Figma.
Strategic Funding Partners
The seed round was led by Index Ventures and CapitalG, with participation from Conviction Capital and prominent tech leaders such as OpenAI’s Andrej Karpathy and Android founder Andy Rubin.
Their involvement signals confidence in the startup’s mission to simplify AI development.
Business Model and Vision
Singleton indicated that the company’s business model would likely resemble Android’s, with revenue coming from platform transactions or subscriptions.
“Commerce will be central to the platform,” he noted. “We’ll either take a cut of sales or offer premium features.”
Lesson for African Startups
The success of /dev/agents serves as a reminder that investors prioritize bold ideas and exceptional talent over time in the market.
For African entrepreneurs, it illustrates that innovation, coupled with a skilled team, can attract global investment, even at an early stage.
