AI coding agent for C and C++ that verifies changes with the real compiler, sanitizers, debugger and tests
ByteAsk builds an AI coding agent specialised for C and C++ codebases in trading, automotive, embedded, semiconductor, aerospace and defence software. The agent runs from the terminal or inside VS Code, Neovim and Emacs, edits code and then builds, debugs and tests each change with the project's real toolchain before presenting a diff, and can be deployed fully on-prem. It was founded in 2026 in San Francisco by IIT Delhi graduates Anirudha Kulkarni (CEO, ex-Optiver low-latency C++) and Pratyush Saini (CTO, ex-ThirdAI and Simbian), who previously built and sold LawSutra AI to Manupatra. It is in Y Combinator's Fall 2026 batch and raised a $1M pre-seed led by Y Combinator and Entrepreneur First, announced 2026-09-24.
Software Development Applications📍 San Francisco, CAFounded 2026
Current Valuation
Private
PRIVATE
IPO Outlookprivate
Is ByteAsk going public?
No. ByteAsk is private and has not filed to go public. There is no S-1 on file.
What is ByteAsk's valuation in 2026?
No confirmed valuation is on record for ByteAsk. The roster shows funding and investors where they are public; it does not estimate a mark.
Has ByteAsk filed an S-1?
No public S-1 is on file for ByteAsk.
Who are ByteAsk's investors?
ByteAsk's investors include Y Combinator, Entrepreneur First.
How much has ByteAsk raised?
ByteAsk has raised $1M in total across 1 disclosed round, most recently a Pre-seed of $1M in Sep 2026.
Is ByteAsk publicly traded — can you buy ByteAsk stock?
No. ByteAsk is a private company — its shares are not listed on any exchange and there is no ticker. The routes to exposure are pre-IPO secondary marketplaces and funds (accredited investors), employee tender offers when the company runs one, and public companies with read-through exposure. QuantLogix maps every route it can verify for ByteAsk on its Pre-IPO Access Desk.
Answers are derived from the roster record shown on this page — filing status, last round and confirmed marks. Where the record is silent, the answer says so rather than guessing.
Company Profile
CEO
Anirudha Kulkarni
Founded
2026
HQ
San Francisco, CA
Employees
2
Total Raised
$1M
Growth
Company-claimed: weekly active users doubling week over week; 89% resolution on an internal firmware-ticket benchmark vs 61% for best frontier model without its environment
Last Round
Pre-seed — $1M (Sep 2026) · Lead: Y Combinator; Entrepreneur First
IPO Status
private
Fundraising Status
Pre-seed · $1M · 2 mo ago
privateTotal raised $1M1 disclosed rounds
Funding History
Round
Amount
Date
Lead Investor
Post-Money
Pre-seed
$1M
Sep 2026
Y Combinator; Entrepreneur First
—
Vertical Intelligence — AI / ML
No verified Hugging Face organization found for ByteAsk — no attributable open-model footprint. Closed-weights labs are common; this is a distribution signal, not a capability judgment.
Checked huggingface.co as of 2026-11-04. Re-checked weekly.
Talent Signal
Hiring trend
● First snapshot
trend accrues with monthly sweeps
Open roles
17
via careers page
Product-build share
76%
engineering, research, product, design
Trajectory
steady
heavy product build — 76% of open roles are product-building functions (engineering/research/product) — 10 of 17 open roles are engineering.
Actively hiring with no tracked executive churn.
Open roles by month
Open roles by function
■ product-building ■ go-to-market / G&A
AI/ML EngineerEngineeringFull-stack EngineerEngineering[C++ Systems EngineerEngineering](https://byteask.ai/careersfounding-cpp-systems[AI/ML EngineerEngineering](https://byteask.ai/careersfounding-ai-ml-engineer)[Full-stack EngineerEngineering](https://byteask.ai/careersfounding-full-stack-eFounding C++ Systems Engineer
Counted from ByteAsk's live job board as of 2026-10-27; role functions classified from posting titles. Open-role counts are an activity signal, not headcount. Refreshed monthly.
Founders & Key People
Anirudha KulkarniPratyush Saini
Investors
Y Combinator · Entrepreneur First
Products
ByteAsk terminal coding agent (CLI; VS Code, Neovim, Emacs; on-prem)
C++ post-trained language model (planned within 6-8 months)
Private-company numbers are not real-time. Reflects publicly disclosed valuations from press releases, news reports, and tender offers as of recent date. Refreshed quarterly.