A lot of big companies want to be a part of the AI change, but many of them think it’s too early to become stuck in one model. That means there’s a need for a layer between businesses and large language models (LLMs). Businesses could use this layer to quickly switch between LLMs without having to commit to a single platform.
That is the group Langdock wants to reach with its chat feature, which stands between LLMs and businesses. General Catalyst and La Famiglia, their European seed-stage partner, led the German company’s $3 million seed round.
Lennard Schmidt, the co-founder and CEO of Langdock, expressed to Eltrys that companies prefer not to limit themselves to a single LLM provider. “Like, we took that out of the picture and put it in an interface that lets a company pick which of the underlying models from different vendors employees can use.” 
Schmidt said that Langdock’s chat system lets businesses use base models, open source models, or host and share their own models.
Along with about 25 other seed investors, Y Combinator and well-known German founders such as Rolf Schromgens (Trivago), Hanno Renner (Personio), Johannes Reck (GetYourGuide), and Erik Muttersbach (Forto) took part in the funding round.
There is also a European angle to this; Langdock is “going heavy” on the idea that businesses in the EU will want to safely and securely add LLMs in a way that follows the rules.
This means that employees can work in a slightly more secure setting, where they can add private papers, use more than one LLM, and make quick libraries.
The company provides more than just a chat platform. They also have protection, cloud, and on-premises options.
Langdock says that Merck, GetYourGuide, HeyJobs, and Forto are some of his clients. Around 63,000 people who work for Merck now have access to the startup’s interface. CEO of Merck, Walid Mehanna, said in a statement, “We are early adopters of GenAI and see a paradigm shift in how technology can help our employees become more effective and efficient in their daily work lives.”
Langdock’s isn’t the only business in this area.
Dust is a Paris-based company that has raised €5 million so far with Sequoia’s support. The platform that the company is developing allows businesses to use LLMs for various purposes, including customer service, internal reports, research, and more. On the other hand, any type of staff can use Langdock’s chat system for a wider range of tasks.
