伦敦AI初创公司Gradient Labs在短短一周内成功完成1300万美元的A轮融资，由Redpoint Ventures领投，多家知名机构跟投。该公司专注于为金融科技行业构建客户运营AI代理。Gradient Labs的CEO Dimitri Masin分享了此次快速融资的关键在于提前数月建立投资者关系、拥有扎实的市场基础和已验证的产品，以及清晰、聚焦的融资展示。他强调，真诚的沟通、对产品和团队的充分准备是打动投资者的核心要素，并建议其他创业者尽早与投资者建立联系，深入理解行业，以应对充满挑战的融资环境。

🚀 **快速融资的基石是提前布局和稳固基础**：Gradient Labs的CEO Dimitri Masin指出，一周内完成1300万美元A轮融资并非偶然，而是数月前就开始与投资者建立和维护关系的结果。通过持续分享公司进展、倾听反馈并保持联系，使得在正式启动融资时，能够获得投资者的积极响应，而不是作为“冷接触”出现。扎实的产品、切实的市场表现以及在AI客户运营这一细分且痛点明显的领域内的专注，是吸引投资的关键。

💡 **清晰聚焦的融资展示是关键**：Gradient Labs的融资展示（pitch deck）之所以成功，在于其清晰度和聚焦性。公司没有试图讲述过于宽泛的故事，而是明确展示了问题的关键性、团队的独特优势以及产品已取得的实际成果，如在短短四个月内实现100万美元的年经常性收入。他们强调并非追逐AI热潮，而是专注于可验证的牵引力数据、真实用例和产品性能，让投资者看到公司正在构建的是一个切实可行且具有变革潜力的解决方案。

🤝 **建立长期的投资者关系和深刻的行业洞察**：Masin建议其他创始人，不要等到需要资金时才开始建立投资者关系，而应尽早开始，即使在未积极融资时也要保持沟通。同时，对所处行业有深刻的理解至关重要。Masin本人在金融科技领域多年的机器学习和反欺诈系统开发经验，使他能够精准把握受监管行业客户运营的真实需求，并安全地交付解决方案，这种“创始人-市场契合度”是难以伪造的优势，也是快速推进融资的重要因素。

Gradient Labs secured a $13 million Series A funding led by Redpoint Ventures in one week.The startup builds customer operations AI agents for fintech.BI asked the CEO how he was able to close so quickly and what his advice is for other founders who are trying to fundraise.

Gradient Labs, a London-based AI startup building customer operations AI agents for fintech companies, said it closed a $13 million funding round in one week, Business Insider has learned exclusively.

The Series A round was led by Redpoint Ventures, with participation from LocalGlobe, Puzzle Ventures, Liquid 2 Ventures, and Exceptional Capital.

Gradient Labs was co-founded in 2023 by Dimitri Masin, Neal Lathia, and Danai Antoniou — all early employees of Monzo, a challenger bank based in London.

BI asked Masin, who is CEO, how he was able to close so quickly and what his advice is for other founders who are trying to fundraise. He answered questions via email and also shared his pitch deck.

Q: How were you able to raise $13 million in a week?

It might look like it happened overnight, but the groundwork was laid months in advance. We'd been building relationships with investors early — sharing updates, listening to feedback, and staying in touch even when we weren't actively fundraising. So when we officially opened the round, we weren't just another cold pitch.

We also came in with a strong foundation: the product was live, the traction was real, and the space we're focused on — AI for customer ops in regulated industries — is very specific and very painful. That specificity helped us stand out in a sea of generic AI pitches. And we were prepared: deck, memo, model — everything was ready to go. That made it easy for interested investors to move quickly.

Q: What was the secret to your pitch deck?

There's no silver bullet. A pitch deck can't make up for weak fundamentals. What helped was clarity: We didn't try to tell an overly broad story. We showed exactly why this problem matters, why we're uniquely qualified to solve it, and how the product is already delivering results. And it was delivering: We reached $1 million in annual recurring revenue in just the first 4 months.

We also made sure to point out that we weren't riding the AI hype, but we leaned into specifics, such as traction metrics, real use cases, and product performance. Investors could see that we weren't just chasing a trend. We were building something that works today, and has the potential to reshape customer operations in industries that don't tolerate guesswork.

Q: What advice do you have for other founders raising in this environment?

Be brutally honest about your fundamentals. Is the product genuinely good? Is your team equipped to win in this space? Will what you're building still matter when the next big model drops? If not, a clever deck won't save you.

Also, don't wait to build investor relationships. Start early, even before you need the money. When you finally do raise, it won't feel like a scramble.

And finally, know your space inside out. Founder-market fit is what lets you move fast with conviction. I spent years building machine learning systems for fraud at Monzo — that gave me a real advantage in knowing what regulated companies actually need, and how to deliver it safely. That context is hard to fake.

Here is Gradient Labs' series A pitch deck: