Langdock Secures $3M Investment from General Catalyst to Empower Companies in Avoiding Vendor Lock-In with LLMs

Many large corporations aspire to embrace the AI revolution but hesitate to commit to a single foundational model too soon. This creates a demand for an intermediary solution that allows businesses to access large language models (LLMs) without being permanently tied to one platform. Langdock is addressing this market need with its innovative chat interface that connects companies to various LLMs.

Based in Germany, Langdock recently secured a $3 million seed funding round led by General Catalyst, along with its European seed-stage partner, La Famiglia. "Businesses want to avoid vendor lock-in with any single LLM provider," explained Lennard Schmidt, co-founder and CEO of Langdock. "Our interface simplifies this by enabling companies to select from various underlying models provided by different vendors for their employees."

Langdock’s chat interface allows organizations to utilize foundational models, open-source options, or even host their own models, making these resources easily accessible for employees. The funding round also attracted investments from Y Combinator and prominent German founders such as Rolf Schrömgens (Trivago), Hanno Renner (Personio), Johannes Reck (GetYourGuide), and Erik Muttersbach (Forto), along with around 25 other angel investors.

With a focus on the European market, Langdock recognizes that companies within the EU will want to safely and securely integrate LLMs while adhering to regulations. This approach allows employees to work within a more controlled environment, which facilitates the creation of prompt libraries, the use of multiple LLMs, and the management of sensitive documents.

In addition to its chat interface, Langdock provides robust security options along with both cloud and on-premises solutions. The startup claims to have secured several notable clients, including Merck, GetYourGuide, HeyJobs, and Forto. Merck has implemented Langdock’s solution across its workforce of 63,000 employees. Walid Mehanna, Chief Data and AI Officer at Merck, remarked, “As early adopters of GenAI, we recognize a paradigm shift in how technology can enhance employee productivity and efficiency in their daily tasks."

Langdock is not alone in exploring this landscape. Dust, a Paris-based startup, has raised €5 million to date, backed by Sequoia, and is developing an interface for utilizing LLMs across various scenarios including customer service and internal reporting. However, Langdock distinguishes itself with a versatile chat interface suitable for a wider range of use cases and accessible to diverse staff roles.