Inside a16z’s Speedrun Demo Day: 28 AI starups' bet on AI Agents and enterprise automation
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The Speedrun Experiment: a16z’s AI Incubator Goes All-In on Agents
Andreessen Horowitz’s Speedrun is an internal incubator designed to help founders build AI-native companies at startup speed.
Its latest Demo Day, showcased during the first-ever AI Faire, featured 28 new projects, nearly all centered around AI Agents and enterprise automation.
The focus is clear: a16z is doubling down on “AI as a coworker.” From hiring and procurement to marketing and knowledge management, each function is being reimagined as a collaborative, intelligent agent.
Enterprise AI Agents
Seven companies are building agent-based systems for enterprise workflows:
Ambiguous AI — “AI coworkers” that collaborate like real teammates.
Anchr — AI workforce for food distribution.
Argu — AI agents for CCTV monitoring and analytics.
Avenir — Automates employee benefits administration.
Bead AI — SOX compliance testing with AI.
Genway - AI Agent for Consumer Insights.
Jooba — AI-powered hiring automation.
Kanu AI - Your AI Cloud Engineer.
Rehearsals - AI Digital Twins of your Customers.
Sourcerer — Agents that automate procurement workflows.
Creative & Marketing Tools
Four startups are using AI to accelerate creative output and marketing performance:
Clout Kitchen — Viral marketing powered by AI.
Doublespeed — AI for short-form content creation.
Limy AI — Brand visibility in AI search ecosystems.
Logical Health - AI for Healthcare Benefits.
Presia AI — AI-generated strategy decks for consultants.
Product & Developer Tools
The “make-your-product-AI-native” trend is strong across these:
BotBot — The UX layer for embedding AI features.
Brief - Product Judgement at AI Velocity
OpenSesame — Make your product AI-native in minutes.
Else — Code mods and AI demos for developers.
Nativ - AI Localization for Global Teams.
Intangible - AI for 3D/Spatial Use Cases.
Layerpath — AI for product demos.
Knowledge, Talent & Infrastructure
Beyond these, several projects address organizational intelligence and infrastructure:
Meridian and Logical Health — AI for knowledge management and employee benefits.
Dex and Ezra — AI recruiter and AI interviewer for hiring automation.
Maniac and Sentra — Model stability, performance, and AI alignment security.
My 5 Promising Picks
Among the 28, five startups stand out for their strategic positioning and market potential:
Sentra — “Your AI Alignment Officer.”
Sentra acts as a unified “company memory,” integrating across tools, tracking commitments, and maintaining organizational alignment. Its strong focus on compliance and enterprise data security is timely — enterprises need governance and trust layers as they embrace AI.
Maniac — “Model-Agnostic Agents for Stability & Performance.”
With AI agents often plagued by inconsistency and inefficiency, Maniac’s model-agnostic approach to reliability could become foundational infrastructure if it delivers real stability breakthroughs.
Dex & Ezra — AI for Recruiting.
Recruiting automation remains one of the most practical enterprise use cases. Dex (AI recruiter) and Ezra (AI interviewer) both target pain points of efficiency, bias, and cost — and could scale fast with proven ROI.
OpenSesame — “Make Your Product AI-Native in Minutes.”
By lowering the barrier for SaaS and tool builders to embed AI-native experiences, OpenSesame could become a must-have layer for software teams.
