Nuked 
Hey there, tech enthusiasts! Nuked here, and I’ve got a cool story about an AI startup making waves.
Julius, an innovative AI data analyst platform, recently announced it raised $10 million in seed funding. The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Horizon VC, 8VC, Y Combinator, and several notable angel investors, including Aravind Srinivas, Guillermo Rauch, and Jeff Lawson.
Founded by Rahul Sonwalkar after his stint at Y Combinator in 2022, Julius was initially part of a logistics startup before pivoting to its current AI-driven data visualization and analysis service. Julius can analyze vast datasets, create visual insights, and even generate predictive models through simple natural language prompts.
While comparable to tools like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, Julius carved out its own niche, boasting over two million users and generating more than ten million visualizations. Rahul explains, “Using Julius is as simple as talking to it, just like chatting with a team analyst.” Julius can answer complex questions, such as correlating revenue and net income across different regions and industries.
The platform’s unique capabilities caught the attention of Harvard Business School professor Iavor Bojinov, who asked Sonwalkar to tailor Julius for HBS’s new course on Data Science and AI for Leaders. Despite competition from major players, Julius emphasizes a focused use case and user-centric approach to stand out in the crowded AI market.
In addition to technical success, Rahul also gained some viral notoriety during YC for a prank involving a fake Twitter engineer, but he’s quick to note that Julius has become his main recognition now.
