The process of due diligence, a crucial step in making informed business decisions, is about to get a significant overhaul thanks to the innovative approach of Bridgetown Research, a startup that has just raised $19 million in a Series A round co-led by Accel and Lightspeed. The company's solution leverages AI agents to streamline the data collection and research process, making it faster and more cost-effective.

Co-founded by Harsh Sahai, a former McKinsey employee and research scientist at Amazon, Bridgetown Research has developed three types of AI agents that can gather information, collate and condense data, and present it in an easy-to-read format. This approach has the potential to significantly reduce the time and cost associated with traditional due diligence methods, which often involve third-party agencies and consultants.

The startup's AI agents exploit the networks of industry experts, partnering with these networks to gather insights on a particular company or sector. The voice agents then interview experts to collect the necessary information, which is subsequently analyzed and summarized by the second set of agents using large-language models and tools for clustering and regression. Finally, the third set of agents uses small-language models to reproduce the interpretation in a digestible form, such as a presentation.

According to Sahai, Bridgetown's agents can produce an initial due diligence analysis in just 24 hours, with inputs from hundreds of respondents. This speed and scalability are unprecedented in the industry, and clients can either use the agents to gather data and insights on their own or hire an independent consultant or small consulting firm to work with the agents.

One of the concerns surrounding AI-powered research is the potential for hallucination, where the models make up information. Bridgetown addresses this issue with its "steerability and audibility" approach, which allows clients to review the data and trace every step the agent took to arrive at its conclusions. Additionally, the voice agents record their conversations with experts, enabling manual verification of the information.

Bridgetown Research is not the first company to tackle the challenge of making due diligence easier, with startups like Mako AI and DiligentIQ already operating in the space. However, Sahai believes that other platforms do not provide a complete enough solution, and Bridgetown's approach is unique in its ability to gather information from multiple sources, interpret it using large language models, and then employ fine-tuned models to process the data.

The startup has already secured two customers in the U.K. and a dozen in the U.S., including top-tier private equity and venture capital funds, consulting firms, and big corporations that address the M&A pipeline. With its innovative approach and significant funding, Bridgetown Research is poised to revolutionize the due diligence process and make a significant impact on the business landscape.