Prentis, an AI lab co-founded by entrepreneur Ritankar Das along with technology veterans Reid Hoffman and Mark Pincus, is in discussions to secure $100 million in funding at a valuation of approximately $1 billion. Established in April 2026, Prentis specializes in training AI models to assist office workers by automating routine tasks related to navigating software and workflows. The company aims to develop customized AI agents capable of handling specific industry needs, such as processing insurance claims or managing customs duty refund exceptions without manual intervention.

The startup has already signed contracts collectively valued at up to $50 million with clients across diverse sectors, including healthcare services and manufacturing. According to company materials, Prentis anticipates reaching an estimated annualized run rate of $75 million by the third quarter of this year, with projected revenue based on performance-linked savings passed on to customers. Their proprietary AI model, Hive-32B, reportedly outperforms competitors like OpenAI’s GPT-5.4 and Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.6 on key benchmarks that measure AI completion of real-world computer tasks and on-screen control identification.

Prentis differentiates itself through the use of smaller, more cost-effective models that claim to reduce operational expenses by roughly tenfold compared to existing state-of-the-art AI APIs. This economical approach is designed to facilitate widespread deployment among everyday office workflows. Nonetheless, the market for AI agents focused on computer automation remains highly competitive, with significant players including Anthropic, OpenAI, and Thinking Machines Lab actively pursuing similar innovations. Notably, Anthropic recently acquired the Seattle-based startup Vercept to bolster its presence in this area.

The leadership team behind Prentis includes Ritankar Das, a prodigious AI entrepreneur who founded Titan, a holding company focused on AI ventures, alongside Hoffman—LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock partner—and Pincus, Zynga’s founder and Reinvent Capital’s head. Prentis has rapidly expanded to over 25 employees, recruiting talent from top AI organizations such as OpenAI, DeepMind, Meta, Tencent, and Alibaba. As the company advances its technology and funding efforts, it seeks to establish leadership in automating office workflows, potentially shifting the primary application of AI from coding assistance to task automation.