OpenAI is launching a new entity dedicated to professional services and the deployment of its technologies. Its name: OpenAI Deployment Company or DeployCo, as insiders call it.
The ambition is to help organizations design and run AI systems at the heart of their most critical daily operations.
DeployCo raises more than $4 billion at launch, valuing the company at $10 billion.
OpenAI retains majority control, and investors, whose arrangement details were disclosed by Axios, benefit from a guaranteed minimum return of 17.5%, along with caps on profits. These terms are not present in the official release.
To get off to a rapid start with a critical mass of expertise, OpenAI simultaneously announced the acquisition of Tomoro, a consultancy and engineering firm specializing in applied AI. This company, whose clients include Tesco, Virgin Atlantic and Supercell, adds roughly 150 engineers and seasoned professionals to corporate environments. The deal remains subject to the usual regulatory approvals.
150 Engineers and Seasoned Specialists
DeployCo’s capital is built around a consortium of 19 investment firms, consulting firms and systems integrators.
TPG is named as the lead investor, with Advent International, Bain Capital and Brookfield as co-founding partners. Completing the lineup are B Capital, BBVA, Emergence Capital, Goanna, Goldman Sachs, SoftBank, Warburg Pincus and WCAS.
But it is the involvement of three giants of consulting—Bain & Company, Capgemini and McKinsey—that draws the most attention. Their entry into OpenAI’s equity signals two radically different interpretations.
The more generous reading is that these players are seeking privileged access to OpenAI’s capabilities and roadmap to better serve their clients. The more ironic interpretation would be that OpenAI has convinced them to fund their own disintermediation.
All of these private partners oversee more than 2,000 companies worldwide, giving DeployCo a substantial deployment base from the outset.
OpenAI, which claims more than a million business users of its products and API today, now aims to solidify its presence in the deployment market—a space previously dominated by large IT services firms.
