Who are Keenable's customers?

The startup wouldn't disclose customers, but its API is used in production at several AI labs and inference providers. It recently partnered with voice AI company Gradium.

What is Web Query Language?

It's an upcoming product that would help AI systems answer questions by combining information from various web sources, even when none contain the full answer.

Large Language ModelsAI Business & IndustryTechCrunch AIAug 25, 2026Aug 26, 2026, 01:01 JST

Accel-backed Keenable raises $26M to index web for AI agents

Send on LINE

3 Key Points

What happened
Keenable, founded by Yandex's former search chief Andrey Styskin and AI scientist Matthias Petri, emerged from stealth with $26 million in seed funding led by Accel, with participation from Conviction Partners and business angels.
Why it matters
The startup is building a web search index of over 100 billion documents, with an API already used by AI labs and inference providers. This addresses a gap as Google and Microsoft shut down search APIs to avoid cannibalization.
What to watch
Keenable plans to double its team of 15 engineering staff by the end of the year and is developing Web Query Language to help AI combine information from multiple web sources.

Not sure about something? Ask the AI

Questions and answers are published on this page.

Summaries like this, in your inbox every morning.

Get news like this every morning, free

Context & Analysis

Keenable's founders draw on experience from Yandex and Amazon, having worked on web search infrastructure for AI applications like Alexa. Styskin noted Cloudflare data showing AI crawlers' growing share of search volume, reinforcing the opportunity.

The startup faces competition from Brave, Exa, and Google's own AI overhaul, but Styskin argues the "innovators' dilemma" makes Google "beatable" on agentic queries. Costs remain a challenge, with Styskin calling the index-building "painfully expensive." The fresh funding will support go-to-market efforts and headcount growth.

FAQ

Who are Keenable's customers?: The startup wouldn't disclose customers, but its API is used in production at several AI labs and inference providers. It recently partnered with voice AI company Gradium.
What is Web Query Language?: It's an upcoming product that would help AI systems answer questions by combining information from various web sources, even when none contain the full answer.

TechCrunch AIRead Original Article

Send on LINE

Also reported by SiliconANGLE AI

AI news that matters for your work, delivered every morning.

Pick your industry and the AI tools you use, and get news related to your work every day.

Get it free

Free · 30 seconds with Google · unsubscribe anytimeWhat is AIToday? →

Ask AI

Ask AI anything about this article. The AI reads this article, earlier AIToday articles, and Wikipedia, and cites its sources. Q&As are published on this page for other readers too.