Exclusive: Koch’s venture arm backs a16z-backed Emanate’s push to bring AI to industrial sales

Industrial sales still runs on memory, inboxes and reps who know an account by heart. Emanate thinks AI can take over that work, and Koch Disruptive Technologies is now backing the bet with a strategic investment in the San Francisco startup. Neither company would say how much was invested.

That matters because Koch is no small signal. The private company says it brings in more than $125 billion in annual revenue and employs about 120,000 people across more than 50 countries. Its venture arm is making a clear argument here: AI should be used to help companies grow, not just trim costs.

Emanate’s pitch is simple and a little ruthless. In industrial markets, a buyer can usually get the same part from another supplier, so the seller who answers first and prices smarter tends to win. The company says its software sits on top of systems suppliers already use and pulls scattered account knowledge into one place.

Founder and CEO Kiara Nirghin says the product is not a chatbot and not an agent. She calls it an engine. It starts with a human in the loop, then earns more autonomy step by step as it proves itself on an outcome. Emanate says that engine can reactivate, manage, price and expand accounts on its own once it gets there.

The startup came out of stealth in February with backing from a16z, Peter Thiel and Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian. Nirghin, a Thiel fellow and former Google Grand Prize winner, said the system is measured by splitting accounts into test groups and comparing results against the rest of a customer’s business over the same period, with the same prices and demand. Emanate would not name customers or share revenue or margin figures, and it previously said the product could lift customer revenue by 60% to 80%.