Eightfold co-founders raise $35M for Viven, an AI digital twin startup for querying unavailable coworkers

Published: Wednesday, October 15, 2025 at 5:15 pm

AI Startup Viven Emerges from Stealth with $35 Million in Funding

Viven, an AI digital twin startup, has launched with $35 million in seed funding, aiming to revolutionize workplace communication and information access. Founded by Ashutosh Garg and Varun Kacholia, the co-founders of the AI recruiting firm Eightfold, Viven seeks to address the common problem of delayed project progress due to the unavailability of colleagues.

The core of Viven's technology is the creation of a specialized large language model (LLM) for each employee, essentially a "digital twin." These digital twins are built by accessing internal electronic documents like emails, Slack messages, and Google Docs. This allows other employees to query a colleague's digital twin to quickly access information, even when the original person is unavailable.

A key challenge addressed by Viven is data privacy. The startup employs a concept called "pairwise context and privacy" to determine what information can be shared and with whom. The LLMs are designed to recognize personal context and protect sensitive information. Furthermore, each employee can review the query history of their digital twin, acting as a safeguard against inappropriate inquiries.

Viven's seed funding round was led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from Foundation Capital, FPV Ventures, and others. The startup is already being used by several enterprise clients, including Genpact and Eightfold. While the founders acknowledge the potential for future competition from companies like Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI, they believe their unique "pairwise context" technology will provide a competitive edge.

BNN's Perspective:

The concept of digital twins for employees is intriguing and has the potential to significantly improve workplace efficiency. However, the success of Viven hinges on its ability to maintain robust data privacy and build trust with employees. The technology's widespread adoption will depend on how effectively it balances information access with the protection of sensitive personal data.

Keywords: AI, digital twin, startup, Viven, funding, LLM, enterprise, workplace communication, data privacy, Ashutosh Garg, Varun Kacholia, Eightfold, Khosla Ventures, seed funding, Genpact, pairwise context, information access

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