11x, a London-based AI startup that creates automated digital workers, has raised funding from US investing giant Benchmark Capital.
11x was founded in 2022 by Syrian-born Hasan Sukkar, who came to the UK in 2015. The company aims to provide businesses with "digital AI workers" that can complete repetitive and mundane tasks to free up employees to focus on other things.
The startup has raised a Series A round of funding, led by US fund Benchmark, four sources familiar with the discussions told Business Insider. The round is worth $20 million, three London-based sources said. They said the deal gives the two-year-old company a valuation of around $100 million post-money.
Neither 11x nor Benchmark responded to requests for comment.
11x's deal was led by Benchmark general partner Sarah Tavel, who will join the startup's board. She formerly worked at Bessemer Venture Partners and Greylock. At Benchmark, she has invested in blockchain company Chainalysis and camping startup Hipcamp.
Benchmark, which backed Uber, WeWork, and Twitter, previously operated in Europe as Benchmark Capital Europe but split its operations in 2007, becoming London-based Balderton Capital. Activity from the fund in Europe is rare, although Benchmark has also backed Germany's Google Translate rival DeepL.
11X raised $2 million in pre-seed funding in August 2023 in a deal led by Project A Ventures, No Label Ventures, and Tiny Ventures.
The startup created a digital sales worker named Alice and plans to release several other digital workers in the future. They can perform tasks like identifying trends and pulling data analytics. 11x can be integrated with platforms like email and Slack.
The company has around 13 staff, according to LinkedIn, and previously told TechCrunch it would look to expand to the US.
Correction: May 1, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated the year that Hasan Sukkar came to the UK from Syria. It was 2015, not 2017.
