Distributional has successfully raised $11 million in a seed funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Operator Stack, Point72 Ventures, SV Angel, Two Sigma, Willowtree Investments, and numerous AI leaders as angel investors.
The company aims to create a modern enterprise platform for artificial intelligence (AI) testing and evaluation, with a focus on enhancing the safety, security, and reliability of various AI applications.
Scott Clark, Co-Founder and CEO of Distributional, emphasized the challenge of testing AI, drawing from his experiences at Yelp, SigOpt, and Intel. He highlighted the need for a purpose-built software to robustly evaluate AI by examining distributions of outcomes, addressing the unpredictability and complexity inherent in AI systems.
AI systems can face issues such as hallucinations, instability, and inaccuracy, making it challenging to identify and mitigate risks effectively. Distributional aims to provide a comprehensive solution for AI product teams across different industries, including finance, technology, energy, and manufacturing. The platform will support various model types, including statistical models, machine learning, deep learning, large language models, and other forms of generative AI.
Martin Casado, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, expressed excitement about Distributional’s approach to tackling the reliability issues in AI systems, which is considered a significant barrier to widespread enterprise adoption. The platform aims to offer a robust and repeatable AI testing solution, allowing teams to catch and address issues before they impact production.
Distributional is currently collaborating with more than a dozen design partners to develop an active testing platform that provides a comprehensive view of AI risk. The company, founded by Scott Clark, plans to use the funding to further develop its product and expand its team. The enterprise product is expected to launch in the second half of 2024.
