Jared Kushner has cofounded Brain Co., an AI consulting startup that helps large corporations and governments implement artificial intelligence solutions across their operations. The company emerged from stealth with $30 million in Series A funding and has already secured deals with major clients including Sotheby’s and Warburg Pincus, positioning itself to capitalize on the widespread struggle businesses face when trying to deploy AI effectively.
The founding team: Kushner partnered with prominent tech investor Elad Gil and former Mexican foreign minister Luis Videgaray to launch the San Francisco-based startup in 2024.
- The company has around 40 employees and maintains a strategic partnership with OpenAI to build custom applications for clients.
- Other cofounders include Opendoor’s Eric Wu as chairman and former Google Brain executive Clemens Mewald as CEO.
- Brain Co. acquired mental health AI startup Serene AI in September 2024, bringing in three additional cofounders from the audio social media app Clubhouse.
High-profile backing: The Series A round was led by Kushner’s Affinity Partners and Gil’s Gil Capital, with participation from several tech billionaires.
- Notable investors include Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Stripe CEO Patrick Collison, LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, and Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora.
- Kushner’s private equity firm Affinity Partners manages over $4.8 billion in assets, backed by sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE.
Market opportunity: Brain Co. is targeting the massive gap between AI foundation models and practical business implementation, where most companies are struggling to succeed.
- A recent MIT study found that 95% of generative AI pilot programs failed among surveyed companies.
- This challenge has created a boom in revenue for management consultants like McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, and Accenture.
- Gil describes the company’s focus as bridging “the gap between the foundation models” like GPT-5 “and what you really need to do.”
In plain English: Foundation models are like powerful but generic AI engines (such as ChatGPT) that can handle many tasks but need to be customized for specific business needs. Most companies struggle to bridge this gap between having access to AI and actually making it work for their particular operations.
Client base and applications: The startup has secured contracts with 10 of the world’s largest public companies according to Forbes’ Global 2000 list.
- Current clients span auction houses, private equity firms, government institutions, energy providers, healthcare systems, hotels, and restaurant chains.
- Applications include helping hotels streamline booking systems and enabling industrial plants to optimize energy consumption.
- The company processes tasks like construction permits and insurance claims using similar AI frameworks.
Strategic approach: Brain Co. plans to remain industry-agnostic rather than specializing in specific sectors.
- “So far, we haven’t seen a reason to only double down on one sector,” says CEO Mewald. “Actually, it turns out that at the technology level and the AI capability level, a lot of the use cases look very similar.”
- The work done for one customer often applies to clients in different industries, creating operational efficiencies.
What they’re saying: Kushner emphasized the transformative nature of the current AI moment in the company’s launch announcement.
- “We’re living through a once-in-a-generation platform shift,” Kushner said. “After speaking with Elad, we realized we could build a bridge between Silicon Valley’s best AI talent and the world’s most important institutions to drive global impact.”
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