Accel-Backed Keenable Builds Web Search Infrastructure for AI Agents

Keenable, a startup founded by former Yandex search executive Andrey Styskin and AI scientist Matthias Petri, has emerged from stealth with $26 million in seed funding to build web search infrastructure designed for artificial intelligence agents.

The company is developing a large-scale web index that allows AI systems to retrieve information from online sources more efficiently. Keenable said its technology is designed for AI applications that require access to up-to-date information and source documents during training and in real time.

Keenable builds search infrastructure for AI systems

Traditional search engines were designed around human users who typically scan search results and individual web pages. However, as AI assistants and agents increasingly perform web-based tasks, Keenable believes the internet infrastructure needs to adapt to support systems capable of processing much larger volumes of information.

Styskin, who previously led search, AI, and cloud operations at Yandex, said AI systems often perform better when source documents support responses. He founded Keenable with Petri to develop search technology designed specifically for AI-driven applications.

The startup said it has created a web search index containing more than 100 billion documents. Several AI labs and inference providers already use its API during training and runtime, although Keenable has not publicly identified those customers.

Building retrieval tools for AI agents

Keenable recently partnered with voice AI company Gradium to support live information retrieval during conversations. The company is also developing proprietary retrieval technology, including an upcoming product called Web Query Language that would allow AI systems to combine information from multiple web sources.

Styskin said Keenable’s approach differs from traditional enterprise search solutions because serving search results at internet scale requires specialised indexing methods that can quickly narrow the search space based on a query.

Existing web search access options have also been changing. Changes to Google’s Custom Search API and Microsoft’s Bing Search API reflect broader shifts in how major search providers provide access to their infrastructure.

Accel partner Zhenya Loginov, who led the investment, said AI companies have limited choices for web-scale search infrastructure as large technology companies increasingly move toward more selective and bundled approaches.

Keenable targets search built for AI workloads

The founders said their interest in AI-focused search infrastructure stemmed from prior work building search systems for AI applications, including voice assistants. Styskin said he began seeing an opportunity as AI crawlers became a larger part of web activity.

Cloudflare’s analysis of AI crawlers highlighted the growing prevalence of AI-related web crawling, adding to interest in infrastructure designed for machine-based information retrieval.

Styskin said the startup is also exploring opportunities arising from what he described as the “innovator’s dilemma,” in which established companies may struggle to adapt existing systems to new markets. The concept was outlined in The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen.

Keenable is entering a competitive market that includes other AI search companies and evolving search products from established providers. Companies such as Brave Search and Exa are also developing search technologies aimed at AI applications.

Startup expands team after $26 million funding

Building and maintaining a large web index requires significant resources. Styskin acknowledged that creating this infrastructure is expensive, but said the company is focused on managing costs while expanding its technology.

Keenable currently has a team of 15 engineers across the United States and Europe. The startup plans to use its new funding to double its headcount by the end of the year and build its go-to-market operations.

The company’s long-term goal is to create search infrastructure designed for AI agents rather than traditional web users. However, Keenable faces competition from both emerging AI search companies and established search providers adapting their products for the AI era.