Cohere Gobbles Up Ottogrid in a Bid to Supercharge Enterprise AI
The AI Unicorn’s Latest Move Signals a Pivot to Vertical Domination
In a quiet but strategic acquisition, Cohere has snapped up Ottogrid, a Vancouver-based startup specializing in AI-driven market research automation. The deal, confirmed by Ottogrid co-founder Sully Omar, comes with undisclosed financial terms but includes a sunset clause: Ottogrid’s standalone product will be discontinued, though customers get a grace period to transition. For Cohere, the play isn’t about absorbing users—it’s about swallowing tech. Ottogrid’s document analysis and data extraction tools are set to merge into Cohere’s North, a ChatGPT-like app targeting knowledge workers.
“Ottogrid’s team and IP will accelerate our vision for AI that doesn’t just chat, but *does*,” said Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez.
The timing is telling. Cohere, once a darling of the open AI race, stumbled in 2023, missing revenue targets by a staggering 85%. But its recent shift toward private, enterprise-grade deployments has paid off—the company now boasts $100 million in annualized revenue. Ottogrid, originally launched as Cognosys before rebranding in October 2024, fits neatly into this pivot. Its AI tools parse contracts, extract insights from reports, and automate tedious research tasks—exactly the niche Cohere wants to dominate.
From $2 Million to an Exit: Ottogrid’s Ascent
Ottogrid’s journey was brief but well-funded. The startup raised $2 million from a who’s who of tech backers: GV (formerly Google Ventures), Untapped Capital, and executives from Replit, Vercel, and—tellingly—Cohere itself. Its rebrand last fall hinted at ambitions beyond basic automation, positioning itself as a “grid” for enterprise intelligence. Now, that grid will power Cohere’s North, which Gomez describes as “AI that thinks like your best analyst.”
“Most AI tools are glorified search engines. We’re building a system that synthesizes,” Omar noted in a 2023 interview.
For Cohere, the acquisition is a tactical strike against rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic, who’ve focused on horizontal AI. By embedding Ottogrid’s vertical-specific smarts into North, Cohere bets enterprises will pay premium for AI that knows their industry’s jargon, workflows, and pain points. The gamble? That “specialized” will outsell “scaled” in the corporate AI wars.
The deal’s quiet close belies its significance. In a market obsessed with billion-dollar valuations, Cohere’s targeted shopping spree—and Ottogrid’s quiet exit—might just be the blueprint for AI’s next phase: less hype, more heavy lifting.
