Builder.ai

Founded as Engineer.ai in 2016 by Sachin Dev Duggal, Builder.ai promised to make custom software "as easy as ordering pizza," with an AI assistant named Natasha assembling apps from reusable blocks. The reality, former staff and reporters found, leaned heavily on roughly 700 human engineers in India doing the work the AI was credited with. The company raised more than 445 million dollars from Microsoft, the Qatar Investment Authority, and SoftBank affiliates, reaching a 1.5 billion dollar valuation, before restated financials and allegations of inflated revenue triggered a cash crisis. A lender swept tens of millions from its accounts in early 2025, and on May 20, 2025 the new chief executive told employees the company would file for insolvency. It was, by most accounts, the first major bust of the AI funding boom.

Founded

2016-01

Shut down

2025-05-20

Funding raised

$445M

Years alive

9

Founders

Sachin Dev Duggal