E
Exa
AI · San Francisco, United States · Founded 2021
Formerly known as Metaphor Systems. | AI-native search engine for applications and workflows. MoreLess
Exa.ai is an innovative startup that specializes in developing an AI-driven search engine designed to deliver precise, real-time data. The company serves a diverse range of clients, including businesses and developers who require high-quality data for training AI models and enhancing their applications. Operating in the artificial intelligence and data analytics market, Exa.ai's core product is an API that allows users to retrieve the best data from the web with just a few lines of code. The business model revolves around a subscription-based service, offering 1000 free searches per month for new users, and additional searches available through paid plans. Exa.ai generates revenue by providing scalable data solutions that help clients avoid the pitfalls of traditional search engines, which often rely heavily on keyword matching and can deliver suboptimal results. The company recently raised $17 million in Series A funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Nvidia, and Y Combinator, which will be used to scale their search product and solidify their position as the data layer for AI applications.
Keywords: AI-driven, search engine, real-time data, API, data analytics, training models, subscription service, scalable solutions, Series A funding, Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Company overview
Exa company information
The essential company record, classifications and operating signals in one place.
- Status
- Operational
- Founded
- 2021
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, United States
- Employees
- 164
- Open positions
- 16
- Dealroom signal
- 95.6
Valuation & funding
Exa funding history
Company financing events and reported valuations.
| Deal type | Date | Amount | Valuation | Investors | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SERIES COther financing | May 2026 | $250M | $2.2B | Andreessen Horowitz | ↗ |
| SERIES BOther financing | Sep 2025 | $85M | $700M | Nvidia · Benchmark · Lightspeed Venture Partners · Y Combinator | ↗ |
| SERIES AOther financing | Jul 2024 | $18M | $70M | Y Combinator · Nvidia · Lightspeed Venture Partners | ↗ |
| SEEDOther financing | Jan 2024 | $4.4M | $18M | Y Combinator · Nvidia · Lightspeed Venture Partners | ↗ |
| SEEDOther financing | Apr 2023 | $0 | — | Pioneer Fund | — |
| SEEDOther financing | Jan 2022 | Undisclosed | ↗ | ||
| SEEDOther financing | Sep 2021 | Y Combinator | — |
Financials
Revenue and workforce over time
Available revenue and workforce history. Fields without reported data are omitted.
| Year | Revenue | Growth | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $10M | 0% | 164 |
| 2025 | $10M | +400% | 107 |
| 2024 | $2M | — | 38 |
Growth signals
Exa website traffic
Latest recorded traffic for Exa is 850K monthly website visits, up 2.4% over the last three months. Exa's team grew 53.3% over the past year.
Hiring
Open positions at Exa
Current openings linked to this company in Dealroom.
Comparisons
Exa compared with similar companies
Dealroom’s weighted taxonomy model identifies the closest operating peers. Company identity and context stay open; selected comparison metrics preview what is available in the platform.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Cognition | Devin AIMaker of Devin, Cognition is an applied AI lab building end-to-end software agents |
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WindsurfAI coding assistant. Founded as Exafunction, a GPU virtualization platform, pivoted to Codeium, now called Windsurf |
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Preferred NetworksVertically integrated AI hardware and software solutions |
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Poolside AIAI models enabling high-impact software development |
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Talent graph
Exa's talent
Source: Dealroom Talent Intelligence.
Global footprint
Where Exa has talent and traffic
team presence
In the news
Latest news about Exa
Recent press, funding announcements, and product moves mentioning Exa — open to read from the original sources.
Market sentiment
What the market is saying about Exa
An AI-synthesized read of the highest-engagement posts about Exa on X over the past 7 days. We rank by likes & retweets, ignore corporate channels, and surface the themes that broke out from real people.
Reading the room on X — pulling top posts and synthesizing themes…
Source: X recent search ranked by engagement (likes + retweets) · Synthesis by Claude · Cached for 1 hour
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