Benchmark Bets Big on Exa, Which Wants to Be Google for AI Era

The venture capital firm Benchmarkis backing a new type of search engine built for artificial intelligence agents, not people.

The firm is leading an $85 million investment in San Francisco-based Exa Labs Inc., a company that helps AI systems surface the most relevant data from the web. The financing values the company at $700 million — 10 times its valuation in a funding round last year.

Peter Fenton, the Benchmark partner known for early investments in Twitter and Yelp Inc., is joining Exa’s board as part of the deal.

Exa co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Will Bryk said that traditional ...