Ridge AI, a Seattle-based artificial intelligence startup building AI-native embedded analytics solutions for software companies, has raised $2.6 million in pre-seed funding to accelerate product development and bring a new approach to customer-facing data experiences. The company is focused on helping B2B software companies create interactive analytics products faster while enabling users to explore data through AI-powered tools.

The pre-seed round was led by Madrona, with participation from TheFounderVC and a group of angel investors, including technology leaders and founders from companies such as Tableau, Turi, and Streamlit. The financing will support Ridge AI’s mission of making analytics development faster, more accessible, and more intelligent for software teams.

Founded by Ellie Fields and Jeffrey Heer, Ridge AI was created to address longstanding challenges faced by software companies that need to provide analytics capabilities inside their products. Many B2B SaaS companies struggle to build embedded analytics because creating polished, interactive dashboards often requires specialized engineering resources, extensive development time, and expertise in data visualization. Ridge AI aims to simplify that process through artificial intelligence.

Ellie Fields brings extensive experience from the analytics industry, including more than a decade at Tableau, where she helped launch products such as Tableau Public and Tableau Online. She later served as Chief Product and Engineering Officer at Salesloft. Jeffrey Heer is known for his work in data visualization and as a contributor to foundational technologies including D3 and Vega-Lite. Together, the founders are applying their experience in analytics and visualization to build a new generation of AI-powered data products.

Ridge AI’s platform allows software teams to create embedded analytics experiences using AI assistance. Instead of requiring teams to manually design dashboards and build complex visualization systems, Ridge enables users to describe the analytics experience they want and generate interactive data products more efficiently. The company believes artificial intelligence can dramatically reduce the time required to build customer-facing analytics while improving the quality and usability of the final experience.

The company’s technology is built on the open-source Mosaic visualization framework, which provides the foundation for creating interactive web-based data experiences. Ridge AI combines this visualization technology with AI agents designed to help users understand and interact with data. These AI-powered data agents can answer questions, provide insights, and help end users explore information beyond traditional dashboards.

The newly raised funding will allow Ridge AI to continue developing its platform, expand engineering efforts, and support the company’s closed beta launch. The company is focused on helping product teams deliver analytics capabilities that previously required months of development work. By combining AI with modern visualization technology, Ridge aims to make advanced analytics accessible to more businesses.

Investor support from Madrona reflects growing interest in AI infrastructure and software tools designed to improve enterprise productivity. Madrona has a long history of investing in technology companies across cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and enterprise software. The firm’s investment in Ridge AI highlights confidence in the opportunity to transform how software companies build and deliver analytics experiences.

Participation from TheFounderVC and experienced technology operators further strengthens Ridge AI’s early backing. The company’s angel investors include founders and executives with deep experience in data infrastructure, analytics, and developer tools, providing strategic support as Ridge expands its product offering.

Ridge AI is entering a market where companies increasingly rely on data-driven products and real-time insights to serve customers. Traditional dashboard-building approaches often require significant investment and technical expertise, creating barriers for many software businesses. Ridge believes AI can change this by allowing teams to build sophisticated analytics experiences through simpler, more intuitive workflows.

The company’s emergence comes amid broader adoption of AI-powered software development tools. Businesses are increasingly looking for ways to use artificial intelligence not only for automation but also for improving how products are designed, built, and delivered. Ridge AI is positioning itself within this trend by focusing on one of the most important areas of modern software: helping users understand and act on data.

With $2.6 million in pre-seed funding from Madrona, TheFounderVC, and technology-focused angel investors, Ridge AI is positioned to advance its AI-native analytics platform and expand its presence among B2B software companies. As organizations continue seeking better ways to deliver insights through their products, Ridge AI aims to redefine embedded analytics for the artificial intelligence era.

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