Motion Raises $38M to Build AI Agent Office Suite | Y Combinator

From Quant to Founder: The Story of Motion

Harry Qi attained a level of financial achievement by age 23 that eludes most individuals, earning approximately $1 million annually.

Initially employed as a “quant”—hedge fund terminology for a statistically-driven stock-trading analyst—following his college graduation, Qi experienced a sense of emptiness despite his financial success.

“The desire to create a substantial impact on the world eventually takes precedence,” Qi, currently 29, shared with TechCrunch.

The Birth of Motion

In 2019, alongside his high school friend Omid Rooholfada and Ethan Yu (a college acquaintance also working within the hedge fund industry), Qi developed an AI-powered calendaring and task management application.

They subsequently applied to Y Combinator and were accepted into the Winter 2020 cohort, prompting them to resign from their positions and fully dedicate themselves to their venture.

Motion later welcomed a fourth co-founder, Chander Ramesh, who had been an early employee.

For the following six years, they focused on expanding Motion’s user base, primarily among professionals.

Rapid Growth with AI Agents

In May, they introduced an integrated AI agent package tailored for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), which triggered a surge in adoption.

Within four months, this segment of their business grew to exceed 10,000 B2B clients and generated $10 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), as reported to TechCrunch by Qi.

This expansion facilitated a $38 million Series C funding round, oversubscribed by a factor of five, led by Stacey Bishop of Scale Venture Partners, and a subsequent preemptive C2 round resulting in a $550 million post-money valuation.

Investment and Team Expansion

To date, the startup has secured $75 million in funding from investors including HOF Capital, 468 Capital, and SignalFire, with additional participation from Valor Equity Partners, Fellows Fund, Leonis Capital, and Apollo Projects—the fund established by the Altman brothers.

Y Combinator has contributed to every funding round, according to Qi.

The company’s success also attracted Ashutosh Desai, Qi’s former executive coach from YC and a YC advisor, who joined the team full-time.

Focus on SMBs

Motion is specifically designed for SMBs lacking the substantial resources required to independently develop and train their own AI agents.

A key advantage is the seamless integration of all agentic functions, each represented by a distinct persona.

Currently, the suite encompasses an “executive assistant” for automating tasks like scheduling, note-taking, and email management, as well as agents specializing in sales, customer support, and marketing content creation.

Integration and Pricing

The agents are compatible with numerous popular SMB tools, including Slack, Google Apps, Teams, and Salesforce.

Motion’s pricing is based on usage, offering a base allocation of credits with options for additional credits based on agent usage.

Plans range from $29 per month for a single user with 1,000 credits and limited functionality, to $600 per month for 25 users, full agent access, and 250,000 credits, with custom pricing available for larger needs.

A Vision for the Future

Qi envisions Motion as the agentic counterpart to Microsoft Office, stating, “The opportunity exists to create the next Microsoft; you essentially need to develop all the applications.”

This contrasts with the approach of acquiring individual AI solutions—a sales agent, a customer service bot, a blog writer—that operate in isolation.

Finding Fulfillment

Despite acknowledging the “stress” inherent in building a company within the rapidly evolving AI landscape, Qi affirms he would not revert to his previous career.

He maintains direct communication with many customers, and regularly receives feedback highlighting how Motion enhances their productivity and profitability.

“To be completely candid, from a financial standpoint, it was likely a suboptimal decision,” he admits, estimating he could currently be earning between $3 and $10 million annually.

However, he also expresses his ambition to establish a lasting company, akin to Microsoft, and emphasizes the satisfaction derived from creating something genuinely valuable.

“Was this the correct course of action?” he reflects, considering his customers. “The true motivator is knowing you’ve constructed something genuinely useful.”