The pair then set themselves up as hired guns, creating apps for companies who wanted to move beyond basic AI chatbots.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d get on the phone with anyone who would give us the time of day. And we\u2019d build them whatever they wanted at an extremely discounted market rate,\u201d Mosen says.<\/p>\n
They didn\u2019t seek out any particular niche, but one found them, on the blue-collar side of the fence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a lot of recurring issues and problems in steel, construction, manufacturing services in the United States, like, particularly around back office document processing, and those kept on popping up more and more and more,\u201d Mosen said.<\/p>\n
\u2018A terrible business model\u2019<\/p>\n
He and Englander would go in, create a bespoke AI solution, then head off into the sunset.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a terrible business model, because we\u2019d code everything from the ground up for the client and then just hand it over to them. We didn\u2019t own it. We didn\u2019t get any recurring revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pair decided to create their own AI platform that would solve common problems for logistics and construction firms. Their start-up, Sea12, was born in May 2024.<\/p>\n
Mosen decided to go all-in on the firm, dropping out of varsity to join Englander in New York.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were completely bootstrapped. We had US$30,000. We rented a tiny office and hired two interns,\u201d Mosen says. <\/p>\n
He was CTO wraning the tech, Englander CEO, focusing on sales.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought, \u2018We\u2019ve got the summer to make it happen,\u2019 because we would run out of runway in September,\u201d Mosen says. <\/p>\n
In the event, the runway expanded as they built their platform then started to sign more and more clients. <\/p>\n
Quick-fire raise<\/p>\n
\u201cWe started getting noticed by a couple of VCs [venture capital firms],\u201d Mosen says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe raised our first seed round for about US$4 million, which was a big relief for us. We finally had room to breathe. We\u2019d been bootstrapped for a year at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most of the capital for that round, and a follow-up Series A that took their total funding to around US$25m ($43m) came from Caffeinated Capital.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe process was really quick,\u201d Mosen says, remembering the seed round.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur GP [general partner] at Caffeinated, Varun Gupta, called Charles on a Friday, chatted with him for an hour or two, then called me on Saturday. We chatted on the phone for like 45 minutes then they sent us a [term] sheet on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was shocked because I thought it would be a multi-month process. If you\u2019re not attached to AI, it\u2019s hard to raise that amount that quickly, but we were fortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Big in Texas<\/p>\n
With the seed money secured, \u201cWe could start hiring fulltime people and we started going after bigger and bigger accounts; big steel companies; big logistics companies. We started doing a lot of outreach.\u201d<\/p>\n
The groundwork for the Series A did prove more involved, stretching from November into early this year.<\/p>\n
Mosen says his firm now has \u201cseven-figure revenue\u201d and several large customers including Texas-based Basden Steel, \u201cwhich took nearly a year to land\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey build military bases, airports, hospitals, high schools, really anything that needs like a steel structural frame,\u201d Mosen says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we do with them is really a lot of back office automation, so processing all their steel order documents, routing what parts need to be built in what shop, processing their invoices, and making sure they\u2019re not getting double-charged for certain steel orders.\u201d<\/p>\n
Basden introduced Sea12 to one of their suppliers, Colorado\u2019s Brown Strauss Steel, who also came on board. Others followed.<\/p>\n
While, many AI start-ups focus on the likes of fintech, real estate and customer service, often with West Coast bent, Mosen and Englander had stumbled on what the Kiwi calls \u201cthe backbone of the country\u201d.<\/p>\n
Sea12 is now looking to expand into other industries.<\/p>\n
\u2018Team Anthropic\u2019<\/p>\n
What\u2019s his preferred flavour of AI?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re pretty Team Anthropic for most of our coding,\u201d Mosen says. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a big fan of that company. But we\u2019re also using OpenAI\u2019s Codex, which is pretty cool too.\u201d <\/p>\n
It helped that an OpenAI account manager offered a US$15,000 credit to help keep Sea12 on the hook.<\/p>\n
New school, old school<\/p>\n
Revenue is rising. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to get to eight-figures by the end of the year,\u201d Mosen says.<\/p>\n
The start-up now has an office on Broadway and 14 staff. It\u2019s advertising for another four.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had to learn how to hire people. It\u2019s definitely a skill,\u201d Mosen says. <\/p>\n
He says it\u2019s trickier in an AI boom where, \u201cThe top 1% of engineers are hopping around every couple of months to different companies, and it\u2019s really tough to retain them, unless you pay them exorbitant amounts of money. And even then no amount of money will make them stay if they don\u2019t like the culture \u2013 so that\u2019s something we\u2019ve been very focused on.\u201d<\/p>\n
The stereotype is that pandemic-raised Gen-Z favours hybrid and remote work, but Mosen says, \u201cWe\u2019re an in-person company. I think it\u2019s important, for the culture, to have everyone in the office.\u201d<\/p>\n