Generative AI Auditing Firm Root Signals Bags $2.8M in Funding

Root Signals, a startup with offices in Helsinki and Palo Alto, has successfully raised $2.8 million in funding. Specializing in generative AI (GenAI) measurement, Root Signals employs "LLM-as-a-judge" techniques to help businesses accelerate the adoption of GenAI by providing enterprise-grade tools to measure, control, and monitor large language model (LLM) applications.

The funding round was led by Angular Ventures, with additional participation from Business Finland. This investment will enable Root Signals to enhance its platform and model development, as well as expand its sales and marketing efforts.

As businesses integrate GenAI into their operations, they face significant challenges. Traditional software development practices are not sufficient for managing GenAI applications due to their inherent unpredictability and complexity. To address this, AI engineers have started using guardrails to mitigate risks associated with unintended AI behaviors. However, these measures often fall short in maximizing the value of GenAI systems.

Current frameworks for evaluating AI performance, such as quantifying hallucinations, relevance of responses, and regulatory compliance, do not fully address the complexity, costs, and reliability issues. Root Signals introduces a scalable approach called EvalOps, designed to automate and simplify these extensive measurements. EvalOps aims to make GenAI applications quantifiable, reliable, auditable, and reusable by integrating comprehensive metrics that are easy to understand and maintain.

Dr. Ari Heljakka, Founder and CEO of Root Signals, highlights the limitations of current AI quality control measures: “GenAI has no built-in quality control. You cannot treat it as traditional software; rather, you need to think of it as an unreliable freelancer. You must be meticulous in instructing it and continuously verify its work through multiple checks.” Root Signals' solution provides a more scalable approach, addressing the shortcomings of existing tools that are either too low-level or overly complex.

Root Signals has attracted interest from various sectors, including independent software vendors specializing in GenAI-powered vertical bots, AI teams within fast-moving industry players, and LLM software consultants. The company’s platform enables these users to build and automate detailed metrics quickly, facilitating model-to-model comparisons. This capability is particularly valuable for enterprises in regulated industries that need to replace large, costly models like GPTs with smaller, more efficient on-premise models.

Oguzhan Gencoglu, Head of AI at Root Signals, emphasizes the company’s innovative approach: “Our evaluations distill best practices and insights from over 50 recent research papers. Beyond measuring AI behavior, we address the critical question of trust in AI. Our evaluation engine incorporates self-measurability at its core.”

Gil Dibner of Angular Ventures praises Root Signals' approach: “Root Signals’s strategy of using AI to manage enterprise AI implementation is intuitive and crucial. With 90% of enterprise GenAI projects stalling, the need for specialized LLM evaluation tooling is clear. Root Signals addresses this gap effectively, and the founders bring two decades of expertise to solving these complex challenges.”

To date, Root Signals has secured a total of $2.8 million in funding. With its offices in Palo Alto and Helsinki, the company is well-positioned to advance its mission of improving GenAI adoption and management for enterprises worldwide.