ThriveAI, a San Francisco-based startup, announced its public launch on May 13, 2025, alongside a $1.2 million pre-seed funding round led by 500 Global, with participation from Iterative and Hustle Fund. Founded by former product leads from Google, Slack, and Palantir, ThriveAI introduces the world’s first AI-powered junior product manager, designed to support human product managers in fast-paced, data-driven environments.
ThriveAI raises $1.2M in pre-seed funding led by 500 Global.
Launches AI-powered junior product manager for modern product teams.
Founded by ex-Google, Slack, and Palantir product leads.
Specialized AI agents handle data analysis, feedback, and insights.
Funding to enhance multi-agent platform for deeper workflows.
Reduces manual tasks, enabling focus on strategic product goals.
ThriveAI’s platform, built by co-founders Ishwar Dhanuka and Brian Ngo, addresses the growing pressure on product managers to deliver faster in AI-accelerated environments. As Vishal Harnal, managing partner at 500 Global, stated, “AI doesn’t replace jobs; it replaces tasks. As AI accelerates product development, the need for specialized tools to help human product managers keep pace has never been greater.” ThriveAI’s multi-agent system acts as an autonomous teammate, handling tasks like data analysis and feedback triaging to free up human PMs for strategic and creative work.
The platform’s specialized agents are trained to understand the full product lifecycle, enabling them to monitor metrics, interpret user feedback, and align priorities with business goals. “Ishwar and Brian have spent a lot of time in the product management space throughout their careers, and understand its pain points better than most,” said Hsu Ken, Managing Partner at Iterative. ThriveAI has shown early success with scaleups, catching issues early and speeding up prioritization, with plans to expand task coverage using the new funding.
ThriveAI prioritizes reliability over novelty, ensuring its AI acts as a trusted teammate. As Ishwar Dhanuka, co-founder and CEO, noted, “The future of product management isn’t about choosing between human or machine; it’s about using both wisely. At ThriveAI, we believe AI should handle the scale, so humans can focus on what truly moves the needle: strategic thinking, creative problem-solving, and product intuition honed through experience.” The platform’s design reduces manual overhead, allowing PMs to focus on high-impact decisions.
With a growing waitlist and strong early traction, ThriveAI is poised to transform product management. “Every improvement we make to ThriveAI is designed to make it a more capable, dependable teammate, from triaging feedback to tracking product health and supporting roadmap decisions,” said Brian Ngo, co-founder and CTO. The funding will enhance the platform’s ability to handle complex PM responsibilities, positioning ThriveAI as a critical tool for fast-moving teams.
Founded in 2024 by Ishwar Dhanuka and Brian Ngo, ThriveAI is building the world's first AI Junior Product Manager a purpose-built teammate trained to think and operate like a real PM. Drawing on decades of experience leading product and engineering at Google, Slack, and Palantir, the team created ThriveAI to help product teams move faster, spot opportunities earlier, and make better decisions without the manual overhead.
ThriveAI works alongside PMs to monitor product signals from metrics and user feedback to internal documents proactively flagging issues, surfacing insights, and aligning priorities with business goals. Powered by a system of specialized agents trained on real product workflows, ThriveAI delivers the kind of leverage product managers have always needed but never had: fast, contextual execution across the most time-consuming parts of the job.
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