Emergent raises £50m to help everyday builders monetise software using AI agents
This article covers Emergent, an AI startup, closing a Series B funding round of £50m led by Khosla Ventures and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with participation from Prosus, Lightspeed, Together and Y Combinator. The funding will support scaling and further development of its AI platform that enables non-technical founders and small businesses to build monetisable, launch-ready software.
Emergent, an AI startup, has closed a series B funding round of £50 million led by Khosla Ventures and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with participation from Prosus, Lightspeed, Together and Y Combinator. The funding — part of a £75 million haul since launch — arrives as the company reports more than 5 million users across 190 countries and £40 million in annual recurring revenue seven months after going live, underscoring rapid demand for tools that let non-technical founders build monetisable software.
Why it matters
Emergent is pitching itself at a common pain point: turning ideas into production software has been expensive and slow, requiring technical teams or large budgets. If the company delivers on its claims, it could lower those barriers for small businesses and first-time founders, shifting where and how software gets created.
The speed of Emergent’s growth — millions of users and tens of millions in ARR within months — is one reason investors have moved quickly. For entrepreneurs, the platform’s focus on producing launch-ready, monetisation-enabled products matters because it shortens the time between concept and revenue.
Inside the product
Emergent describes its platform as an end-to-end AI app development environment. The company uses autonomous agents to handle design, coding, testing and scaling, and integrates with billing providers such as Stripe so new products can accept payments on launch. The emphasis is on production-grade outputs rather than prototypes, aiming to reduce typical development costs and timelines.
That positioning addresses two common failure modes for founder-built apps: unfinished features and lack of a payment path. Whether Emergent’s agent-driven approach consistently produces maintainable, secure software at scale will determine its long-term usefulness to businesses.
Who are the investors?
The series B was led by Khosla Ventures and SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Participating investors include Prosus, Lightspeed, Together and Y Combinator. Emergent has previously raised a £17 million Series A three months earlier and a £5 million seed round, bringing total disclosed funding to £75 million since launch. The round follows recent backing from Google’s AI Futures Fund.
The investors backing Emergent are signalling conviction in tools that reduce the technical entry cost of software creation. Their participation also brings a mix of late-stage capital (SoftBank), established Silicon Valley VC (Khosla), large tech-focussed investors (Prosus) and early-stage networks (Y Combinator).
Vinod Khosla, Partner at Khosla Ventures, said:
Emergent is harnessing AI to unlock a massive wave of entrepreneurship by removing the technical and capital barriers that have historically limited who can build software. We are excited to partner with Mukund, Madhav, and the Emergent team on a shared vision to help entrepreneurs worldwide turn ideas into businesses.
If you're researching potential backers in this space:
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Founder perspective
Mukund Jha, Co-founder & CEO at Emergent, framed the company’s mission around enabling income generation for everyday builders. He said:
By helping everyday people build and monetise their ideas, Emergent is stepping in to power the most crucial segment of the economy - small businesses and entrepreneurs.
The company highlights an accelerated timeline: a seed round, a Series A three months later, and now a Series B within a short period — which the team says reflects rapid product adoption and revenue traction.
The bigger picture
Emergent’s raise fits a broader pattern: increasing investor interest in AI-first developer tools that aim to automate technical work. The startup sits at the intersection of generative AI and low-code/no-code ambitions, an area attracting capital because it promises to expand the pool of people who can ship software.
The company also points to a cultural trend — a 2026 survey cited in the announcement suggested a resurgence in entrepreneurship, with many people planning businesses or side hustles. Whether Emergent’s model enables sustainable businesses, rather than short-lived experiments, will be a key measure of its impact.
This deal adds to momentum around AI tooling in Europe and the UK, where investors are watching how platforms that lower engineering barriers influence startup formation and small business digitalisation. If Emergent scales responsibly, it could become part of a broader shift in how startups and small businesses build software across the region.
They've invested in Emergent
Get to know these AI investors
| Investor | Sector | Stage | Activity | Team | Connect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Khosla Ventures | 12 investments investments | 14 contacts contacts | |||
 Prosus Group | 3 investments investments | 1 contact contact | |||
 Lightspeed Venture Partners | 11 investments investments | 28 contacts contacts | |||
 Ventures Together | 7 investments investments | more info | |||
 Y Combinator | 28 investments investments | 10 contacts contacts |
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