Stephanie Song, previously part of Coinbase’s corporate development and ventures team, found the extensive due diligence tasks overwhelming during her tenure.
“Investigations that nobody desires to undertake often keep analysts burning the midnight oil,” Song shared with TechCrunch via email. “Simultaneously, funds are seeking to enhance team efficiency and reduce operational costs while deploying less capital.”
Motivated to seek a more efficient approach, Song collaborated with Brian Fernandez and Anand Chaturvedi, former Coinbase colleagues, to introduce Dili. Dili, distinct from the capital of East Timor, is an AI-driven platform designed to automate essential investment due diligence and portfolio management processes for private equity and VC firms.
As a Y Combinator graduate, Dili has secured $3.6 million in venture funding from various investors, including Allianz Strategic Investments, Rebel Fund, and Singularity Capital, among others.
”[AI] plays a pivotal role across investment fund functions, from analysts to partners and back-office operations,” Song emphasized. “With funds seeking a competitive advantage in decision-making, Dili stands out as a potential solution in a challenging market environment.”
Acknowledging the industry’s quest for innovative risk mitigation strategies, Song highlighted the significant unspent capital in VCs and the cautious approach towards early-stage ventures.
While Dili is not the pioneer in applying AI to due diligence, it distinguishes itself with its “first-of-its-kind” technology. The platform boasts high accuracy in tasks such as extracting financial metrics from extensive unstructured documents.
Dili utilizes GenAI, akin to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, to streamline investor workflows. By cataloging a fund’s historical data and leveraging AI models, Dili automates tasks like data parsing and due diligence requests.
Recently, Dili introduced automated comparable analysis and industry benchmarking features, facilitating quick comparisons of investment opportunities.
Despite the potential of AI in portfolio management, concerns regarding accuracy and biases persist. Song assured ongoing model refinement to enhance accuracy and emphasized data privacy by not utilizing customer data for training.
Dili’s future plans include expanding its capabilities to offer a comprehensive solution for investor due diligence and portfolio management, aiming to revolutionize the asset allocation process.
