How AGI Took a Technology No One Had Seen Before to Qualified Investors With Pairs
Applied General Intelligence is building the next generation of AI past the large language model: a deterministic language compiler that understands meaning instead of approximating it. It runs on databases and CPUs rather than large compute, and learns as it goes without training runs. Kurt Bonatz, its co-founder and president, is the one non-technical founder, and was a VC before he started the company in late 2020. Two of AGI’s investors had one of the top three consulting firms vet the technology over two months. Kurt’s plan for the round was to raise it himself by brute force, the way he had before.
The technology had never been seen before.
Investors fell into three camps. Some had no technical background and deferred to an outside PhD team. Some knew enough to get more excited. Some believed in LLMs or nothing, and told AGI to come back with a working model and clients.
Every meeting started as a lesson.
Kurt spent two years learning the technology well enough to explain it in plain terms. He got beaten up in his first meetings until he learned to tell a story that let investors reach the size of the outcome themselves.
One founder carried the whole business side.
Legal, HR, expense management and accounting all fell on Kurt, on top of the raise. He was not sure an outside firm could understand AGI well enough to carry its message to an investor.
“One of the things I was concerned about was we’re so technical, and what we’re doing is so different from what everyone else is doing. How do you deliver that message in order to get a first meeting with an investor?”
Kurt Bonatz, Co-founder and President, AGI
What moved AGI’s board was the initial market feedback Pairs brought back before the engagement began. Kurt took it to the board as the reason to bring in help rather than raise alone. Onboarding on the Pairs platform now takes a few minutes and loses none of the depth, and first introductions are booked within 24 to 48 hours of completing it.
1
Understand the company before going out.
Pairs took the time to learn what AGI is building and its strategy, then scoped together which firms to approach. Kurt says not many people can grasp what AGI does, and Pairs did.
2
Bring only qualified investors, and prepare every call.
Each meeting came with a brief on who Kurt was talking to. He had expected several names thrown over the fence. Every one was qualified, and even the meetings that did not pan out taught AGI something.
3
Close the loop after every meeting.
Pairs gave feedback on the pitch, collected what each investor liked and did not like, and planned the next meetings and the move into diligence with Kurt. One investor got through diligence in about a week.
“It wasn’t just, you know, throw things over the fence and good luck. It was very curated, very qualified calls that we were having, and the amount of effort that went into prepping for those meetings.”
Kurt Bonatz, Co-founder and President, AGI
The process imposed discipline. AGI got its story right, tested it against real market feedback, and learned what investors were looking for and what each one brought to the table. When a large angel, another VC firm and a second large angel came in through trusted networks, AGI was ready. The main investor took one call and committed a day or two later. Once he was in, Kurt says, the rest of the round fell into place.
Kurt does not think AGI could have moved that fast without the process. The investors AGI has today include heads of top three consulting firms and former CEOs of public companies. They make enterprise introductions, help bring on people AGI would never have secured, and help on strategy. AGI now runs its own investor outreach, telling investors what it is doing and where it needs help, and is preparing its Series A.
RELATIONSHIP IN NUMBERS
June 2025
Round type
SAFE round, ahead of the Series A
Investors met
15, from 25+ introduced
Investor types
Venture funds, micro seed funds and corporate venture arms
Time to first introduction
24 to 48 hours after onboarding on the current platform
Let the investor finish the story.
Kurt learned to give investors enough to see the outcome and reach the size of the market themselves. Telling them what the outcome would be worked less well than setting it up.
Explain deep tech in plain terms, or lose the room.
Kurt spent two years learning AGI’s technology well enough to explain it. Most investors could not judge it on their own, and the ones who understood it got more excited.
Get your ducks in a row before the lead shows up.
The process did not deliver AGI’s main investor. It made AGI ready for him, and he committed a day or two after the first call.
One anchor moves the rest of the round.
Once the main investor was in, fear of missing out took over and the round fell into place.
Every meeting is worth something, even a no.
With qualified introductions, Kurt never felt he was wasting his time. The meetings that did not convert gave AGI feedback it would never have heard by reaching out on its own.
Do not raise solo if you do not have to.
Kurt’s advice to founders with traction: find someone well connected and experienced who takes a real interest. You would be foolish not to take advantage of that.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pairs took the time to understand a technology few people can grasp, brought back initial market feedback that convinced AGI's board to bring in help, and booked meetings with investors who were all qualified. Every call came with a brief, and after each one Pairs fed back on the pitch and on what investors liked and did not like. One investor got through diligence in about a week. When AGI's main investor arrived, he committed a day or two after the first call.
Kurt had already spoken to many investors on his own. He expected some names to be thrown over the fence. Instead every introduction was qualified, every meeting was prepared, and every one came with feedback from Pairs and from the investor that AGI could not have collected by reaching out on its own.
No. AGI's main investor came in through a trusted network, not a Pairs introduction. Kurt credits the process with getting AGI ready: the story was sharp, the materials held, and AGI knew what investors wanted. That is why he believes the main investor could commit within a day or two, and the round followed.
Qualified investors, matched to what AGI is building. Kurt found they fell into three camps: investors without a technical background who saw the potential, investors technical enough to get more excited, and investors committed to LLMs alone. One investor understood the mission quickly and finished diligence in about a week.
AGI came on in June 2025, after Pairs had already brought back initial market feedback that the board used to decide. On the current platform onboarding takes a few minutes at the same depth, and first introductions are booked within 24 to 48 hours of completing it.
It was Kurt's biggest concern. AGI is so technical and so different that he was apprehensive whether anyone outside could carry the message to a first meeting. He says the time Pairs took to understand the business was what stood out most, and that Pairs came through in spades.
AGI has products going out this fall that use parts of its model, and plans its Series A for summer to fall 2027, once it has product market fit, revenue and a substantially complete model. It runs regular investor outreach, telling its investors what it is doing and where it needs help.
