Hang Ten Systems raises $53m
Hang Ten Systems has raised an additional $53 million in seed funding. The Palo Alto-based startup closed this round just five weeks after its initial $32 million raise. The company announced the news to TechCrunch.
Temasek’s early-stage investment arm, Xora, led the new investment. Mayfield, which managed the first round, also participated. Other backers include Aramco Ventures, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra, and Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang. Yang sits on the board.
Founded in May, the firm argues that artificial intelligence can reshape how large organisations build and maintain software. It advises companies with annual revenues over $10 billion on strategy and assists with software modernisation.
“The build part itself has basically become close to zero marginal cost, close to zero time,” Vishal Sikka told TechCrunch. Sikka, pictured above, noted that the focus of software development is shifting from writing code to defining requirements and validating system performance.
Customers are responding quickly. Within 25 days of its first meeting with one client, Hang Ten signed a multimillion-dollar contract for a mission-critical system. Sikka stated he had never seen enterprise deals move that fast.
Hang Ten is now working with 21 major enterprises across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. These include Fresenius Kabi, Saudi Aramco, and Siemens Energy. Some prospects are in the proposal or contract-negotiation stage. The startup has secured multiple seven-figure contracts and is pursuing eight-figure deals.
Xora approached Hang Ten after early wins, seeking to introduce the firm to other companies in Temasek’s portfolio. Sikka declined to disclose the valuation but described the second round as a bump up.
Where the money goes
The new capital will expand the engineering, consulting, and sales teams. The startup currently employs about 20 to 25 people across the U.S., the Middle East, and Australia. It plans to hire in Europe and India.
Hang Ten operates in a crowded market. AI model developers like OpenAI and Anthropic are expanding enterprise offerings, while traditional consulting firms race to embed generative AI into their services.
“Enterprises still need trusted partners who are independent of the underlying platform and who work with and solely in the interest of the enterprise,” Sikka said. “There will always be room for companies like us.”
The firm’s edge lies in adapting AI to complex software development processes rather than building another model. CTO Sanjay Rajagopalan told TechCrunch that engineers rely on an in-house framework, Hobie, which packages reusable AI skills for regulated industries.
“We are actually delivering production software,” Rajagopalan said. “It’s not like we are doing some kind of PoC.”
This approach puts Hang Ten in direct competition with traditional systems integrators. Many engagements replace incumbent providers, though more than half of current opportunities involve new projects companies had previously delayed.
Rajagopalan noted that teams of two to four people can handle projects that previously required about 30. Customers or independent third parties still manage final quality checks and certification. The startup promises a 10-fold improvement in cost, speed, or a combination of both.
Even in four months, Hang Ten has received serious acquisition offers from “very big companies,” Sikka said. He declined to identify the buyers but said the startup has turned them down to focus on expansion.
Before Hang Ten, Sikka co-founded VianAI in 2019 after leaving Infosys in 2017. That firm raised $50 million in seed funding and $140 million in a 2021 round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Sikka departed VianAI in April. He told TechCrunch the company is “going through a transaction” without further details.
Sikka noted that startups like Hang Ten do not carry the burden of legacy systems that established providers must transform.
The name references the surfing maneuver where a rider keeps all 10 toes over the front of the board. For Sikka, it reflects the ambition to help enterprises ride the ongoing AI wave, which he called “probably the biggest wave of our lives.”
