Emergent Raises Series C at $1.5B Valuation to Help Entrepreneurs and SMBs Build the Software Their Businesses Run On

Creaegis led the round, joined by Claypond and Sentinel Global, with additional participation from Khosla Ventures, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Lightspeed, and Y Combinator, as Emergent powers a new generation of AI-native businesses.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Emergent, the fast-growing AI software creation platform that helps founders and business owners build full-stack, production-ready web and mobile applications, today announced a $130 million Series C financing. Creaegis led the round, joined by Claypond and Sentinel Global, with additional participation from Khosla Ventures, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Lightspeed, and Y Combinator. The round quintuples Emergent's valuation to $1.5 billion in just four months, making it a unicorn a year after public launch.

Over 12 million apps have been built on Emergent in the last year, many of them by small business owners and solo entrepreneurs without a technical background. Over half of Emergent’s customers have used it to build software that is critical to powering their businesses, which would not have existed without Emergent’s platform.

The real impact of the AI revolution

Agentic AI is ushering in a new era for small businesses and non-technical founders. The technology isn’t just boosting productivity. It’s radically redefining who gets to build software in the first place, how much it costs to run a business on custom software, and how quickly a company can move from idea to profitable operation.

“The real impact of the AI revolution will be a complete democratization of who gets to build what software, where they get to build it, and how much it costs,” says Mukund Jha, Emergent Co-Founder and CEO. “It’s about making software development accessible to the people closest to the problem, regardless of their technical knowledge. With a platform like Emergent, the people who have great ideas and deep domain expertise can now build and run the software their business needs to succeed at a fraction of the cost.”

Total worldwide spending on AI is forecast to exceed $2.5 trillion in 2026, a 47% increase over the previous year, according to Gartner. Businesses need more software than traditional development pipelines can supply as a record number of Americans take the leap to start their own company, with 1.56 million new business applications between November 2025 and January 2026 alone. But the skill gap and lack of access to capital are hindering millions of SMBs and solo entrepreneurs’ ability to compete, or even participate, in the market.

Professional Software Development Democratized

Most AI coding and app-building tools help users create websites and lightweight apps. Emergent is built for people who need production-ready software they can rely on to run their business.

“We built Emergent for the non-technical entrepreneur and the small business owner, with 70% of our users having no prior coding experience,” Jha adds. “We give these users a new path beyond generic SaaS, slow and expensive dev shops, lightweight prototype tools, or waiting for technical talent to which they may never have access.”

Emergent’s users are building CRMs, ERPs, marketplaces, mobile apps, internal tools, customer-facing products, and operational systems. Some are replacing dev-shop projects. Some are replacing SaaS tools. Some are launching entire companies built with and run on Emergent.

• In California, a founder and PhD toxicologist moved his consumer app onto Emergent to dramatically improve efficiency and automate manual work. He shifted from labor‑intensive consulting to a scalable, productized model. That move has driven a fivefold increase in new business inquiries, monthly revenue nearing $60,000, and a global footprint across more than 170 countries.
• Based in Germany, a small business owner built Motona Market on Emergent to streamline operations in a fragmented, manual automotive market. The platform centralizes car sales, fleet management, and mechanic services, replacing spreadsheets with a modern digital marketplace. By building with Emergent, he avoided nearly $20,000 in custom dev costs and now has hundreds of active users.
• In India, a founder used Emergent to launch a custom partner portal for nutritionists plus an ERP covering inventory, manufacturing, finance, tax, and compliance. The powerful new system automates referrals and commissions, slashes customer acquisition costs, and gives partners real‑time visibility into orders and production. The business is now set to scale revenue and partnerships without requiring a large back office.
• In South Florida, a small business owner rebuilt the web and mobile experience for his car detailing service on Emergent, turning a basic site into his primary growth engine. The new site brings in around 50 high‑intent visitors a day, driving a 35% increase in leads and a sharp revenue uplift. He shipped it in four days and runs it for about $20 a month, freeing capital to expand into new locations.

“Small businesses today have a historic moment to build, automate, and operate using autonomous platforms and address their disadvantages in the previous era,” explained Prakash Parthasarathy, Creaegis. “Emergent is enabling every entrepreneur and business to embrace this change with production grade software and automation.”

Setting a New Standard for Software

Emergent is building a future where software development moves closer to the people who understand the problem, the business, and the market. Entrepreneurs can test ideas without raising capital, SMBs can digitize operations without hiring expensive engineers, and internal teams can build tools without waiting on dedicated engineering. Emergent is democratizing software development, giving every business the power of deeply technical, tailored solutions without the cost of large teams.

See what Emergent has to offer at: https://emergent.ai

About Emergent

Emergent is the fast-growing AI software platform that lets anyone create full-stack, production-ready applications using autonomous AI agents. Emergent’s vision is to enable ambitious people to move at the speed of their thought — to build faster, go bigger, and be unblocked from technical limitations. Launched in 2025, Emergent is backed by Creaegis, Claypond, Khosla Ventures, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Lightspeed, Sentinel Global, Y Combinator, Prosus, Together, and Google’s AI Futures Fund. Its mission is to democratize who gets to build software and bring new ideas to life.