Forgepoint Secures $9.8 Million Seed Round to Deploy AI Inside Sales Agent for Manufacturers

Forgepoint Inc. closed a $9.8 million seed round that was co‑led by Primary Venture Partners and a16z Speedrun, while angel investors from OpenAI, Brex, Vercel and SoFi also joined the deal. The funding is intended to bring the company’s AI inside‑sales agent, Frank, to more manufacturers, deepen integrations with existing software, and grow the team. Within six months of Frank’s launch, Forgepoint reached a seven‑figure annual recurring revenue, showing strong early traction. The round marks a significant step for the company’s expansion plans.

Forgepoint builds an AI agent called Frank that acts as an inside‑sales representative for manufacturers. Frank reads incoming RFQs, parses attached drawings, and applies each manufacturer’s own cost model to generate a draft quote. It then routes the draft to the appropriate reviewer, follows up with the customer if details are missing, and creates the final document once approved. Frank works alongside the existing email, CRM, ERP and other legacy systems that manufacturers still rely on.

Customers who have deployed Frank report an average 30 % increase in monthly quote throughput and a 55 % reduction in time‑to‑quote, freeing skilled operators to focus on decision‑making. Within six months of launch, Forgepoint had a seven‑figure annual recurring revenue. Frank also preserves emails, attachments and decision logic, helping manufacturers avoid losing knowledge when employees retire.

The new capital will allow Forgepoint to expand Frank to more plants, deepen integration with the software already in use, and explore applying AI to other back‑office functions. Investors like Primary Venture Partners’ Zach Fredericks said that the ability to quote, plan and manage work is as important as manufacturing capacity, and that Forgepoint’s approach can boost overall productivity. Founder Jack Strauss, who previously worked at Northrop Grumman, Bain & Co.’s Advanced Manufacturing practice, and Xwing, said the startup’s goal is to put technology into the hands of manufacturers, starting with quoting. The company’s ambition extends beyond quoting to help manufacturers compete and grow without adding administrative headcount at the same rate.