Founder Shares Proven $9M Seed Pitch Deck
Nayrhit B, co-founder of AI leads tool Gushwork, has publicly released the investor deck that secured a $9M seed round from VCs like Lightspeed and B Capital. The move offers a proven template for other founders trying to raise in a tough market, with hundreds of founders requesting access to copy its structure and narrative.
Gushwork's $9M seed round, announced in February 2026, was led by Susquehanna International Group and Lightspeed, valuing the AI marketing startup at $33 million post-money. The round also included participation from B Capital, Seaborne Capital, Beenext, Sparrow Capital, and 2.2 Capital, bringing Gushwork's total funding to $11 million. Founded in 2023 by Nayrhit Bhattacharya and Adithya Venkatesh, Gushwork began by helping businesses outsource workflows with a mix of AI and human expertise. The company soon pivoted to focus on AI-powered search marketing after observing high customer demand for increased online visibility. Gushwork is headquartered in Delaware with its primary operations in Bengaluru, India. The company's core product is a swarm of autonomous AI agents that help businesses get discovered on AI search engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. Gushwork's system automatically generates search-optimized content, builds backlinks, and tracks inbound leads, aiming to shift marketing from traditional SEO to what it calls "Answer Engine Optimization" (AEO). Gushwork reports significant early traction, with over 300 paying customers, 95% of whom are in the U.S. The startup claims that 80% of its clients see a 500% increase in website impressions and a 50% rise in inbound leads within 60 days. With an annualized recurring revenue of around $1.5 million, the company also has a waitlist of over 800 businesses. The fresh capital is earmarked for expanding the engineering team, enhancing the accuracy of its AI models, and scaling its go-to-market operations. The company's pricing is on a subscription model, ranging from $800 to $2,500 per month. Investor confidence in Gushwork reflects a broader venture capital trend of concentrating capital in AI-focused companies. Lightspeed, a lead investor, recently closed over $9 billion in new funds to double down on AI, having already invested over $5.5 billion in more than 165 AI-native startups. This strategic focus from major VCs underscores the perceived shift in how businesses will be discovered and acquire customers in an AI-driven world.
