Founders: Jack Kokko (CEO), Raj Neervannan
Launched: 2011
Headquarters: New York City
Funding: $1.4 billion
Valuation: $4 billion
Key Technologies: Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, explainable AI, generative AI, machine learning
Industry:Â Enterprise technology
Previous appearances on Disruptor 50 list: 1 (No. 40 in 2024)
With its sharp use of AI-powered tools and an enormous databank of high-quality content to develop more, AlphaSense is disrupting a field where the value of generative AI is clear: corporate enterprise and securities market intelligence.
Like its gen AI peers, the company is growing fast and has seen its valuation rise exponentially since 2023. The company, founded earlier than many gen AI companies, back in 2011, says it counts 88% of the S&P 100 as clients. That client base grew by about 25% in 2024, to more than 5,000, including Amazon, Nvidia, Microsoft, Pfizer and JPMorgan.
Though some enterprises have struggled to find workable applications for AI or secure data that is narrow enough to generate profitable insights, the quality of the data AlphaSense is using is high, because some of it is prepared as part of regulatory filings. The company also scans recent information and compares it against years of data on companies and markets to draw conclusions, CEO Jack Kokko explained in a CNBC interview.
It is now being viewed as a competitor to one of the powerhouses of the business information world, Bloomberg.
AlphaSense offers access to conclusions and data based on filings, press releases, and content about public and private companies, and expert insights based on call transcripts. Among AlphaSense's tools are those that include fast summaries of equity research, and real-time customizable reports. In November 2024, AlphaSense launched Generative Search. Designed to think like an analyst, this tool allows users to ask natural language questions and receive precise insights sourced from AlphaSense's content.
The company built its edge on the quality of its AI tools — its two platforms have a combined 26 patents — and the growing set of data it uses to feed the AI. And the company keeps adding to its databases. It acquired market intelligence firm Tegus last July for $930 million, picking up its library of expert call transcripts and private company data. AlphaSense says it has a total of 150,000 transcripts and 500 million-plus searchable documents.
The Tegus deal also included $650 million in new funding, co-led by Viking Global Investors and BDT & MSD Partners, and was followed by a headcount cut of 8%.
AlphaSense pricing is based on annual subscription rates of more than $10,000 for packages of external market perspectives to millions of dollars for centralized, siloed research that adds internal research content. Users, who include people working in equities research, corporate development and finance, can search content in 37 languages.
Kokko, a former Morgan Stanley financial analyst, founded the company with fellow Wharton MBA graduate Raj Neervannan. Additional investors include Goldman Sachs Growth Asset Management and Alphabet's CapitalG. Kokko's previous experience includes founding chair of doctor search engine BetterDoctor, acquired by Quest Analytics.
AlphaSense has signaled its global ambitions, opening a larger London office in April 2024. It now has offices in eight cities around the globe, and about 2,000 employees, based on public reports.
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