TL;DR Summary
Onyx raised $10M after initially seeking $3M – via 9-slide pitch deck.
Early traction came from open-source adoption – including Ramp.
Their AI agent searches like a human, solving SaaS knowledge sprawl.
Integrates with 40+ tools, delivering context-rich, instant answers.
Focused niche + open-source flexibility = VC confidence + rapid growth.
Most founders grind for years to get VC attention. Onyx didn’t wait.
With a 9-slide deck, an open-source side project, and no formal way to charge users, they set out to raise $3M. Instead, Onyx closed $10M – with investors like Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, Y Combinator, and angels from Dropbox, Coinbase, and Datadog backing them.
This isn’t a unicorn fairy tale – it’s a masterclass in early momentum, positioning, and execution. If you’re a founder looking for traction or funding, this is what game-time execution looks like.
Early Traction That Turned Heads
Onyx didn’t start with a flashy product launch – they started with an open-source tool. In 2023, founders Chris Weaver and Yuhong Sun released an AI-powered enterprise search project (then called Danswer) as a free, open-source resource.
Their big break? Ramp, a multi-billion-dollar fintech, adopted it before Onyx even had a way to accept payments. Demand was undeniable – and the founders jumped on it. That traction proved product-market pull, not just founder optimism.
They rebranded as Onyx and positioned themselves as the first AI deep research agent for the workplace – solving fragmented knowledge with human-like AI search across 40+ tools like Salesforce, Slack, GitHub, SharePoint, and Drive.
Lost Time = Lost Growth
Employees spend 19% of their workweek searching for information.
Source: McKinsey Global Institute
For early-stage companies, time isn’t just money – it’s survival. Losing nearly a fifth of the workweek to search chaos kills productivity. Onyx’s AI agent brings everything together, delivering real answers in real time, freeing up teams to focus on growth.
No Fluff, Just Execution
Onyx didn’t win big by doing everything – they did one thing better than anyone else: solving fragmented knowledge with real AI utility, not hype.
They built traction through open-source value, told a tight, bold story, and used just 9 slides to over-deliver on a funding round.
If you’re a founder looking for early momentum, here’s the playbook:
Prove demand before revenue.
Own your niche with sharp messaging.
Build something people use – then show them the bigger vision.
Steal This Playbook – Lessons for Founders
1. Launch before you’re ready – prove demand early.
Onyx went open source before they had a payment system. Their users – including Ramp – didn’t care. Early traction matters more than polish.
2. Own a real problem – and solve it better than anyone.
“Searching for stuff” sounds basic, but Onyx made it mission-critical. Fragmented knowledge is a scaling killer – they didn’t just join the AI hype, they tackled a specific pain.
3. Keep your pitch lean – and powerful.
Onyx raised $10M with 9 slides. Cut the fluff. Highlight problem, proof, and potential – that’s what VCs care about.
4. Make it easy to adopt – and hard to ignore.
Plug-and-play integrations + self-hosted privacy = fast adoption and enterprise trust. Onyx nailed both.
5. Use open source as a growth engine.
It’s not just code – it’s community, credibility, and speed. For Onyx, it turned a side project into a funded business.
This is what momentum looks like. Build real value. Show it off. Scale fast.
