Delve Deep Learning, a D.C. startup whose artificial intelligence tool helps public affairs professionals quickly synthesize policy information, has been selected to join an international accelerator focused on founders who identify as LGBTQ+.
The startup, launched in April as a spinout from D.C. public affairs firm Delve, was one of nine young companies chosen to participate in the five-month Growth Lab Accelerator program, run by San Francisco nonprofit StartOut in partnership with JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Delve Deep co-founders Jeff Berkowitz and Kyle Huwa said in an interview Wednesday that the latest cohort launched just two weeks ago and already they are forging relationships with potential investors and gaining valuable insight in how to take their product to market. That feedback is critical for the young company, as its AI product remains in beta development while it obtains feedback from the seven public affairs and lobbying firms that are using it regularly.
"Yesterday I did an expert office hour with a pitch deck expert. He just beat the crap out of our investor deck and helped make it better so we can make sure that the story we want to tell improves," said Berkowitz, the founder and CEO of Delve and also the CEO of Delve Deep Learning.
Berkowitz, Huwa and Delve Deep Learning's third co-founder, Sean McAllister, maintain ties to Delve. Huwa, the technical lead at Delve Deep Learning, is Delve's research manager and McAllister is Delve's vice president of research.
By using a combination of publicly available AI tools and proprietary tech made in-house, Delve Deep Learning is trying to simplify the time-consuming research process public affairs professionals undertake daily to remain informed on key policy developments. The startup's software acts as a centralized location for public affairs professionals to access key information relating to news developments, legislative activity and other matters that might be pertinent to their respective job demands.
It's a service for which there appears to be demand, especially here in the D.C. region. In March, D.C. tech firm Quorum Analytics Inc. launched its own AI-powered tool for public affairs professionals that can summarize complex bills or regulations in seconds.
Delve Deep Learning, which has received pre-seed funding from D.C.-based public affairs firm Advocus Partners and others, is preparing for an early 2025 commercial launch of its product. Huwa said the product is already generating revenue but declined to say how much.
This is the 14th cohort for the Growth Lab Accelerator, which was founded in 2017 and since then has aided 93 companies that collectively have raised over $892 million in funding. StartOut is a national nonprofit that supports LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs and Berkowitz said the accelerator's focus on helping LGBTQ+ founders was a key reason why he applied to the latest cohort.
"I think for me, having a community that's specifically for LGBT founders was really attractive because there's a piece of the life journey, not just the founding journey, that you can connect with the other founders on," Berkowitz said.
