TL;DR
- Fundamental Research Labs, formerly Altera, raised $33 million in Series A funding.
- The company builds general-purpose AI agents like Fairies and Shortcut, targeting both consumer and analyst workflows.
- Led by Prosus, with participation from Patrick Collison, the round brings total funding to $42 million.
- The startup is already revenue-generating and aims to eventually work on physical robotics.
AI Beyond the Prototype: Inside Fundamental Research Labs
Fundamental Research Labs (previously known as Altera) has secured $33 million in Series A funding to expand its work across multiple AI verticals. The funding was led by Prosus and also included support from Patrick Collison, co-founder and CEO of Stripe.
Founded by Dr. Robert Yang, a former MIT faculty member, the company is actively monetizing its AI agents and is far from being a research-only organization. “We want to be a historical company,” said Yang, “but we don’t want to follow the standard startup blueprint.”
A Multi-Track Team Driving AI Applications
The company’s structure includes four distinct teams:
- Games: Initially known for building bots that played Minecraft with users.
- Prosumer Apps: Focused on consumer-facing tools.
- Core Research: Develops foundational AI models and capabilities.
- Platform Team: Builds the infrastructure to support its applications.
Their standout products include:
- Fairies: A consumer assistant that integrates apps, executes tasks, and even books appointments.
- Shortcut: A spreadsheet-based agent designed to function as a “junior analyst,” capable of autonomous financial modeling.
Yang emphasized the real-world utility of these tools: “We are already charging users after a seven-day trial,” indicating an early path to monetization.
Investor Confidence in Multi-Use AI Systems
According to Sandeep Bakshi, investment partner at Prosus, “What stood out here is a small, highly mission-driven team focused on digital humans with actual use cases.” He added that Fairies and Shortcut are not just demos but viable platforms already augmenting the workforce.
The company has raised over $40 million to date, including a $9 million seed round co-led by First Spark Ventures and Patron. Participants also included a16z Speedrun and Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google.
From Digital Agents to Physical Robotics
Yang shared broader ambitions: “We are working on productivity apps now because that is where the most value is created. But eventually, we want to solve physical problems and move toward robotic embodiment.”
That vision includes transitioning from desktop agents to real-world robotics, aligning with the industry’s growing interest in embodied AI systems.
📊 FUNDING SNAPSHOT
| Funding Stage | Amount Raised | Notable Investors |
| Seed Round | $9M | First Spark, Patron, a16z Speedrun, Eric Schmidt |
| Series A | $33M | Prosus, Patrick Collison |
| Total | $42M+ | — |
Future Outlook: A Cross-Vertical AI Strategy
While the current focus is on software agents that boost productivity and workflow automation, the startup is laying the groundwork for hardware integration in the near future.If Fundamental Research Labs succeeds in scaling both its platform architecture and model reliability, it could become one of the few firms bridging the gap between research excellence and commercial deployment across verticals.
