Fundamental Research Labs Secures $33M to Expand AI Assistants
Fundamental Research Labs Secures $33M Series A for AI Expansion
Applied AI research company Fundamental Research Labs (formerly Altera) announced today the completion of a $33 million Series A funding round, led by Prosus Ventures with participation from Stripe CEO Patrick Collison. The investment brings the company's total funding to over $40 million following a $9 million seed round last year.
From Minecraft Bots to Multimodal AI
The company began in 2024 developing game-playing AI agents for Minecraft during its seed stage. It has since evolved into a diversified AI developer with teams working across:
- Consumer applications (Fairies assistant)
- Enterprise productivity tools (Shortcut)
- Core AI research
- Platform development
"We're building what we believe will be a historic company," said founder Dr. Yang, former MIT professor. "Our structure allows us to explore multiple market opportunities simultaneously while sharing technical breakthroughs across teams."
Flagship Products Demonstrate Commercial Viability
The company has launched two commercially available products:
Fairies: A general consumer assistant app that:
- Integrates with multiple applications
- Performs cross-platform knowledge queries
- Automates scheduling and workflows
Shortcut: An Excel-like financial modeling tool that functions as a "junior analyst," capable of independent task completion while maintaining professional-grade features.
Notably, both products have moved beyond demo phase to paid subscription models, with seven-day free trials converting to revenue-generating users—a rarity among early-stage AI startups.
Investor Confidence in Diversified Approach
Sandeep Bakshi of Prosus told TechCrunch: "Their recently launched products demonstrate how AI can meaningfully enhance human labor. The combination of ambitious vision and execution capability makes this a unique investment opportunity."
The funding will support continued R&D across multiple application areas while preparing for eventual expansion into robotics and embodied intelligence. Dr. Yang emphasized this long-term vision: "We're starting with productivity applications where we can create immediate value, but ultimately we want to solve physical problems."
Key Points:
- $33M Series A led by Prosus with Stripe CEO participation
- Transitioned from gaming AI to diversified enterprise/consumer applications
- Two commercial products (Fairies and Shortcut) already generating revenue
- Unusual multi-project structure reduces risk while accelerating innovation
- Long-term roadmap includes robotics and embodied intelligence development