TMTPOST--MainFunc, an AI startup co-founded by Eric Jing, former Vice President of Baidu Group and CEO of Xiaodu Technology, recently secured $60 million in its first seed round financing. The seed round was led by Singapore-based Lanchi Ventures, valuing MainFunc at $260 million.
Jing, also the CEO of MainFunc, said "We want to build everything from scratch, even the business model." This ambitious approach reflects MainFunc's commitment to redefining AI product innovations globally. The company's name, derived from "main function" in programming, underscores its mission as the foundational player in the tech industry, simplifying complex processes and pioneering groundbreaking AI-driven products.
Founded in late 2023 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, with operations also based in Singapore, MainFunc is positioned under Jing's leadership—a distinguished figure in China's AI landscape. Jing brings nearly two decades of experience in AI technology research and development, including his pivotal roles at Microsoft and Baidu.
This announcement came with the official launch of MainFunc's flagship project, Genspark, an AI-powered search engine aimed at revolutionizing the search experience.
Genspark, MainFunc's inaugural project, launched in Beta on June 18, targets the U.S. market with a promise to deliver a superior search experience. Unlike traditional search engines that prioritize keyword relevance and site authority, Genspark leverages multiple large language models, including Meta's Llama and OpenAI's GPT models, to provide unbiased and personalized search results.
Jing's career began in 2006 at Microsoft (China), where he served as Chief R&D Director, overseeing the development of Microsoft Bing search for the Asian market. He gained acclaim for his role in creating Xiaoice, Microsoft's conversational AI robot, earning him the moniker "Father of Xiaoice." His career at Baidu, starting in 2014, saw significant strides in voice search, image search, and conversational search technologies.
By 2020, Jing co-founded Xiaodu Technology with a valuation of approximately 20 billion yuan, subsequently securing substantial investments that positioned Xiaodu among China's leading AGI startups. His departure from Xiaodu in 2023 marked a crucial moment as Jing and former Xiaodu CTO Zhu Kaihua embarked on founding MainFunc in the United States.
The launch of Genspark represents MainFunc's entry into the competitive search engine landscape. Designed to cater to modern internet users' evolving needs, Genspark utilizes AI agents within a multi-agent framework to generate real-time, custom Sparkpages tailored to user queries. These pages aggregate information from diverse sources, offering comprehensive insights devoid of commercial bias.
"Traditional search engines leave users navigating through ads and biased content. Genspark acts like a team of knowledgeable guides, ensuring users access trustworthy and relevant information efficiently," Jing noted.
"Many internet users, especially those younger than Google, do not want just a list of links to figure out the rest themselves while sifting through sponsored content and SEO-driven content that games the system," Jing pointed out.
"They want to find what they need faster, they want more visual results, and they want to know the results are trustworthy. With AI, we can achieve all of this, and we launched Genspark to meet these needs," he added.
Jui Tan, managing partner of Lanchi Ventures, expressed confidence in MainFunc and Genspark's technical direction, citing Jing and Zhu's proven track record in AI and search product development.
Looking ahead, MainFunc plans to expand its team and operations, with current bases in Palo Alto, California, and Singapore, and a forthcoming office in Seattle. The company aims to further refine Genspark, exploring potential paid subscription models while maintaining its commitment to providing free, high-quality search services.