Glean
Category: Foundation Models / LLMs
An enterprise AI platform and middleware layer that enables organizations to search, discover, and build agentic AI workflows across all internal company data with strict security and permission awareness. Glean was founded in 2019. The company is led by Arvind Jain. Based in Palo Alto, USA. Team size: 1,000+. Total funding raised: $642.0M. Latest round: Series E. Key investors include Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, General Catalyst, Altimeter Capital, DST Global, IVP, Iconiq Growth.
AMW Analysis
Glean is an enterprise AI platform providing a permission-aware layer for searching, discovering, and building agentic AI workflows across internal company data, allowing employees to find information while enabling developers to deploy generative AI agents without compromising security. Founded in 2019 and based in Palo Alto, the company has raised $642.0 million in total funding through a Series E round, backed by investors including Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, General Catalyst, Altimeter Capital, DST Global, IVP, and Iconiq Growth.
Recent news flow shows Glean repositioning itself from an enterprise search tool toward a foundational AI middleware layer intended to power corporate applications, citing more than 100 secure data connectors as part of this shift. The company has also expanded its physical footprint with a large office lease near Mountain View, coinciding with growth to 1,000 employees and additional funding reported at $765 million. Together, these developments point to a company scaling its workforce and infrastructure while broadening its product positioning beyond search into a wider enterprise AI middleware category.
AMW analysis, generated from 2 tracked news signals.
- Founded
- 2019
- Headquarters
- Palo Alto, USA
- Team size
- 1,000+
- Total funding
- $642.0M
Value proposition
Provides a secure, 'permission-aware' central nervous system for enterprise knowledge, allowing employees to find information instantly and developers to deploy generative AI agents without compromising data security.
Products and solutions
Glean Search: Unified enterprise-wide search across 100+ SaaS connectors., Glean Chat: A secure, generative AI assistant for workplace queries., Glean Runtime: A middleware layer for building and deploying custom enterprise AI apps and agents., Glean Apps: Low-code tools for creating specialized AI assistants for specific departments (HR, Sales, Engineering)., Knowledge Management: Automated wiki-style pages and expert identification.
Unique value
Unlike consumer LLMs, Glean utilizes a proprietary 'Enterprise Knowledge Graph' that understands the relationships between people, content, and activity while strictly enforcing existing document-level permissions in real-time.
Target customer
Large-scale enterprises, IT and engineering departments, and knowledge-intensive organizations (e.g., technology, financial services, healthcare).
Industries served
Technology & Software, Financial Services, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Retail & E-commerce, Manufacturing, Professional Services
Technology advantage
The 'Glean Runtime' serves as an AI middleware layer, abstracting the complexity of RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) and data indexing, allowing enterprises to pivot from simple search to complex agentic workflows with zero manual data mapping.
How they differentiate
Glean differentiates through its 'permission-aware' indexing, which ensures AI responses respect existing enterprise security protocols in real-time. Unlike generic LLMs, it uses a proprietary Enterprise Knowledge Graph to connect disparate SaaS data without requiring manual data mapping, now evolving into an 'AI Middleware' layer (Glean Runtime) for building custom agentic workflows.
Main competitors
Coveo, Microsoft (Microsoft Search & Copilot), Sinequa, Hebbia
Key partnerships
Major Cloud Providers: AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure., SaaS Ecosystem: Deep integrations with Salesforce, Slack, Atlassian, and ServiceNow., AI Infrastructure: Strategic alignment with NVIDIA for optimized enterprise AI performance.
Notable customers
Duolingo, Grammarly, Okta, Canva, Instacart, Bill.com
Major milestones
Achieved 'Centaur' status by surpassing $100M ARR in February 2025., Closed $260M Series E at a $4.6B valuation in September 2024., Launched 'Glean Runtime' in late 2024, pivoting from search to an AI middleware provider., Named to the CNBC Disruptor 50 list in 2024.
Growth metrics
Surpassed $100M in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) as of February 2025, doubling its revenue in less than a year; currently valued at $4.6B.
Market positioning
Premium Enterprise AI and Search platform leader, positioned as the 'central nervous system' for corporate knowledge across the SaaS-heavy tech and finance sectors.
Geographic focus
Global, with primary market concentration in North America and expanding operations in Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Patents and IP
Proprietary technology focused on permission-aware indexing, enterprise-grade semantic search, and automated knowledge graph construction (specific public patent filings focus on cross-platform data retrieval).
About Arvind Jain
Arvind Jain is a seasoned engineering leader and entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience. Before founding Glean, he co-founded Rubrik (NYSE: RBRK), a cloud data management leader, where he served as VP of Engineering. Previously, he spent 11 years at Google as a Distinguished Engineer, where he was a founding member of the teams for Google Search, Maps, and YouTube infrastructure.
Latest news about Glean
- Glean, the Microsoft Copilot rival, just signed a 62,000‑sq‑ft lease near downtown Mountain View, boosting its office footprint as it hits 1,000 employees and $765 M in funding. The new space supports
- Glean is pivoting from enterprise search to a foundational AI middleware layer to power corporate applications. This strategic shift addresses a market projected to hit 15 billion dollars by 2028. By
More Foundation Models / LLMs companies
Official website: https://www.glean.com
