Metal, from Airlift's Usman Gul, raises $4.5M seed for AI fundraising tools
What's the deal? MetalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Pakistan-based AI startup, has raised $4.5 million in a seed round co-led by a16z SpeedrunDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Y Combinator. Founder and chief executive officer Usman Gul, who also co-founded AirliftDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, announced the news. Pioneer FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Rebel FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Gaingels, Indus Valley CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Team Ignite VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Phaze VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → also participated.
What's the endgame? Metal is an AI operating system that helps founders run fundraising and venture capital workflows, offering intelligence and automation for funding rounds. Gul frames the goal as broader than fundraising: "turning software that founders initially adopt while raising capital into infrastructure they continue using throughout the capital formation process."
Why now? The round follows a June strategic investment from Rebel Fund, which backs high-performing startups from the Y Combinator ecosystem. Metal says it is tracking to close FY2026 with multi-million-dollar annual revenue, after six consecutive quarters of 30-80% quarter-on-quarter growth.
By the numbers: At $4.5 million, the round sits in the top 8% of US seed rounds in the marketing sector, based on more than 6,000 comparable deals.
The signal: Metal is betting that the tools founders reach for during a raise can become permanent infrastructure across the capital formation process. Alongside the round, it published a thesis on how it expects private capital markets to evolve — a play to define the category it is building in.
Read more: brecorder.com
Image credit: Metal
