Portrait Analytics, a Boston startup building a ChatGPT-style research platform for investment analysts, has raised $3 million in pre-seed funding from .406 Ventures and some partners at hedge funds.
The developer of the specialized generative AI research platform was co-founded by David Plon, a former Baupost Group investment analyst who says he was drowned by information.
“In my nearly five years as an analyst at Baupost, I never felt like I had enough time to research all the companies that came across my desk, or turn over all the stones I wanted to when digging into a thesis,” said Plon, who serves as Portrait’s CEO.
“At Portrait, we’re building the personal research assistant I always wish I had, one that would massively expand my bandwidth for finding and consuming information critical to the investment research process,” he added.
Plon’s co-founder, Connell Gough, is a full stack developer with extensive search experience. He leads Portrait’s engineering team, which includes a machine learning expert with a doctorate degree, and a full-stack developer and former founder.
Portrait Analytics’ first product — an AI research assistant — is in beta. The tool can respond to questions about markets and also summarize information from hundreds of company documents and filings. The startup eventually expects to develop a suite of products that can perform the role of a junior investment analyst, building financial models, writing memos and pitch decks.
Portrait Analytics is aiming to harness disruptive technology to solve a longstanding business problem based on a lived experience, said Liam Donohue, co-founder and managing partner at Boston-based .406 Ventures.
“In the course of our due diligence, we talked to dozens of investment analysts who detailed the painstaking and inefficient process of researching companies. Over and again, they lamented the lack of a technology solution that could help them make better decisions faster,” said Donohue. “It quickly became obvious that the experience, expertise and vision that David and his team bring to building Portrait will be transformative in solving this massive and important problem.”
So far, .406 Ventures — founded in 2006 by the trio of Larry Begley, Liam Donohue and Maria Cirino — has raised $853 million via six funds.
Donohue, who serves as the firm’s managing partner, was previously a principal at the venture firm Foster Management. He later co-founded Arcadia Partners, and also served as CEO of Business Intelligence Advisors, now a .406 portfolio company.
Commercial Real Estate
MacKenzie Companies
Advertising / Media / Communications / Public Relations
Nevins & Associates
Financial Services / Investment Firms
Chesapeake Corporate Advisors
Commercial Real Estate
Monday Properties
Venture Capital
Blue Delta Capital Partners
Internet / Technology
Foxtrot Media
Cirino has been associated with two Massachusetts IPOs and the founding of two successful companies and a venture capital firm. Prior to co-founding .406, she served as a senior vice president at VeriSign. Earlier, she held senior positions at marketing firm Razorfish, i-Cube and Lotus Development Corporation.
Begley served the firm until 2016 and helped raise two funds totaling $342 million. He later joined portfolio company CloudHealth as its chief financial officer and now serves as an independent consultant and adviser.
.406’s recent portfolio investments include retrain.ai, Trilio, HYPR, Oort, InStride Health and ThreatX. Its exits include GoTo, Veracode, Compass, Carbon Black and CloudHealth Technologies.
