Prentis AI lab seeks $100 million at $1 billion valuation amid crowded agent market
Investor materials point to a $75 million annualised run rate by the third quarter, backed by $50 million in signed contracts across healthcare and manufacturing sectors.
Prentis, an artificial intelligence research laboratory co-founded by Ritankar Das, Reid Hoffman, and Marc Pincus, is in discussions to raise $100 million at a $1 billion valuation, according to two people familiar with the matter. Launched in April, the startup is developing AI agents designed to automate routine computer tasks for office workers, positioning itself to capture a share of the growing market for computer-use models.
The company has already secured contracts worth up to $50 million with customers in the healthcare, manufacturing, and goods sectors. Investor materials obtained by TechCrunch predict an estimated $75 million annualised run rate by the third quarter of this year. These figures are based on contracted fees equal to 20 per cent of savings realised by clients, rather than recognised revenue, and are described as performance-dependent and subject to final execution.
Prentis claims its Hive-32B model outperforms rivals, including OpenAI’s GPT-5.4 and Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.6, on specific computer-use benchmarks. The company cites performance on WindowsAgentArena, which measures end-to-end task completion on real Windows applications, and ScreenSpot-v2, which tests a model’s ability to locate on-screen controls. Prentis argues its competitive edge lies in running a smaller, cheaper model, claiming costs are roughly 10 times lower per task than frontier APIs. TechCrunch has not independently verified these benchmark results.
The AI computer-use agent market is increasingly crowded, with significant competition from established players such as Anthropic, OpenAI, and Thinking Machines, led by Mira Murati. Anthropic has recently moved to consolidate its position in this space by acquiring Seattle-based computer-use startup Vercept earlier this year, folding in its founders and shutting down the product. Prentis did not respond to requests for comment.
Ritankar Das, Prentis’s chief executive, is also the founder of Titan, a holding company that operates AI businesses including Tala Health and Forta Health. Das, who graduated from UC Berkeley at age 18 and holds a master’s from Oxford, has described Titan as operating on a model similar to Berkshire Hathaway, funded by its own exits rather than outside limited partners. Co-founders Hoffman and Pincus view Prentis as a side project; Hoffman recently stepped down from Microsoft’s board to focus on Manas AI, while Pincus runs Reinvent Capital. Prentis has hired more than 25 employees, including researchers from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Meta, Tencent, and Alibaba.
