Startup Raindrop launches observability platform to get handle on stealth AI errors

Raindrop emerges as a specialized AI observability platform at a critical moment when enterprises struggle to monitor their generative AI applications effectively. The company’s platform addresses the unique challenges of AI system failures, which often occur silently without traditional error messages. This solution comes as McKinsey research reveals only 27% of enterprises review all AI outputs before releasing them to users, highlighting a significant monitoring gap in production AI environments that Raindrop aims to fill.

The big picture: Raindrop positions itself as the first observability platform specifically built for AI in production, helping companies detect, analyze and address AI failures in real-time.

• The platform (formerly known as Dawn AI) focuses on solving generative AI’s “black box problem” by providing visibility into how AI applications perform with actual users.
• Co-founder Ben Hylak emphasized the silent nature of AI failures, noting that “AI products fail constantly—in ways both hilarious and terrifying.”

How it works: Raindrop’s platform sits at the intersection of user interactions and model outputs, analyzing patterns across hundreds of millions of daily events.

• The system monitors user messages and feedback signals like thumbs up/down ratings, build errors, or whether users deployed the output to identify performance issues.
• All monitoring occurs with SOC-2 encryption enabled, protecting both user privacy and company data.

Technical challenges: Identifying errors in AI applications presents unique difficulties compared to traditional software monitoring.

• “What’s hard in this space is that every AI application is different,” explained Hylak, noting that failure patterns vary significantly between different types of AI applications.
• The platform must adapt to diverse applications ranging from spreadsheet tools to creative AI companions, each with their own definition of what constitutes broken functionality.

Pricing structure: Raindrop offers tiered pricing to accommodate teams of various sizes and needs.

• The Starter plan costs $65/month with metered usage pricing for smaller teams.
• The Pro tier starts at $350/month and includes advanced features like custom topic tracking and on-premises capabilities.
• Current customers include Clay.com, Tolen, and New Computer, representing various AI verticals from code generation to AI storytelling.