Category Visionaries Sauraj Gambhir, Co-Founder of Prior Labs: $9 Million Raised to Build Foundation Models for Structured Data
Prior Labs is pioneering foundation models for structured data, bringing transformer technology from the generative AI world to tabular data that sits in databases and spreadsheets across every business. With $9 million in funding and over 1.5 million downloads of their open-source model, Prior Labs is revolutionizing how data scientists work with structured data by creating universal models that can handle multiple use cases instead of requiring custom models for each specific application. In this episode, I sat down with Sauraj Gambhir, Co-Founder of Prior Labs, to explore how they're transforming machine learning workflows from taking days to seconds and building a global community around their breakthrough technology.
Topics Discussed:
- Prior Labs' mission to bring transformer technology to structured data and tabular datasets
- The transition from traditional 20-year-old machine learning methods to universal foundation models
- Building a horizontal product that serves data scientists across finance, healthcare, and scientific research
- The company's open-source strategy with 1.5 million downloads and community-driven development
- Social media and community-building tactics that drove adoption across LinkedIn, Twitter, and Discord
- Scaling from 3 to 16 team members in seven months while maintaining technical focus
- Fundraising strategy for AI companies and the balance between raising enough capital without over-inflating
- Plans for geographic expansion from Berlin to the US market
GTM Lessons For B2B Founders:
- Lead with open source for technical audiences: Prior Labs built their entire go-to-market strategy around an open-source model that anyone can download and use for free. Sauraj explained, "We've got like over one and a half million downloads and it is open source. You just need to attribute us that you're using our model." This approach allowed them to achieve massive adoption while building credibility with their technical audience. B2B founders targeting developers or technical users should consider how open source can accelerate adoption and community building before monetization.
- Build community ownership, not just engagement: Sauraj approaches community building like team building, saying, "If you think about your team as a founder, like when you build a team, you want them to feel like it's their company... I'm trying to take that same philosophy towards community building." He creates biweekly Discord updates where half the content showcases community contributions, leading members to actively submit their use cases and request features. B2B founders should design community programs that make users feel like co-creators rather than passive consumers.
- Leverage co-founder networks strategically for different audiences: Prior Labs uses each co-founder's unique network to reach different segments. Sauraj noted, "One of my co founders has been a professor of machine learning for the last 12 years. So he already had a pretty good following of let's say the data science community... when we need to generate inbound, I'm the one pushing when we need to like generate more technical applications for people to apply for jobs with us. We're going through my co founders networks." B2B founders should map their founding team's networks and assign go-to-market responsibilities based on audience alignment rather than traditional roles.
- Focus adoption over monetization in emerging categories: Despite having paying customers, Prior Labs keeps their API free and focuses entirely on adoption metrics. Sauraj explained, "Right now we are offering it for free because we just want like adoption is really the biggest use case at the moment... when we have like the next versions of the models, that's really when we're going to be able to flip the switch." In category creation, B2B founders should prioritize proving product-market fit and building market awareness before optimizing revenue, especially when building foundational technology.
- Use technical documentation as brand building: Instead of focusing on traditional marketing materials, Prior Labs invested heavily in developer-focused assets. Sauraj said, "We were really focused on getting really good docs in place, really good, like GitHub read me in place. And the brand was really kind of like building this community and being like open and honest with the community." B2B founders serving technical audiences should treat documentation, GitHub presence, and developer resources as primary brand touchpoints rather than secondary marketing materials.
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