8 Things You Need to Know About Motion, the AI Startup Aiming to Be the Microsoft Office of Agents

Think of Motion as the startup trying to turn AI agents into the next Microsoft Office.

Founded by ex-hedge fund prodigies, this Y Combinator-backed company is already changing how small and midsized businesses manage tasks, sales, marketing, and customer support—all through a fully integrated AI assistant suite.

In just a few months, Motion has gone from a smart idea to a $10 million ARR business, attracting investors and customers alike.

Here’s what you need to know about the AI startup everyone is watching.

From Hedge Funds to AI Innovation
By age 23, Harry Qi was already making $1 million a year as a quant, analyzing stock trades with complex algorithms. Despite the financial success, he felt something was missing. In 2019, he teamed up with high school friend Omid Rooholfada and college buddy Ethan Yu to create Motion, an AI-powered calendaring and task management app that eventually expanded into a full suite of business agents.

Y Combinator Launchpad
Motion was accepted into Y Combinator’s Winter 2020 batch. The founders quit their jobs to focus on building the startup full-time. A fourth co-founder, Chander Ramesh, joined later, solidifying the team that would grow Motion into a B2B powerhouse.

Explosive B2B Growth
After launching an integrated AI agent bundle for small and midsized businesses in May 2025, Motion’s usage skyrocketed. Within just four months, the company attracted over 10,000 B2B customers and hit $10 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR).

$38 Million Series C Funding
Motion’s rapid growth led to a five-times oversubscribed $38 million Series C round led by Stacey Bishop at Scale Venture Partners. The funding comes on top of $75 million raised to date from investors like HOF Capital, 468 Capital, SignalFire, Valor Equity Partners, Fellows Fund, Leonis Capital, and Y Combinator.

The Vision: Microsoft Office for AI Agents
Harry Qi compares Motion’s goal to building the next Microsoft Office—but for AI agents. The startup is focused on providing a fully integrated suite of agents, unlike fragmented point solutions. Each agent has a distinct role: executive assistant, sales rep, customer support rep, and marketing assistant for blogs and social media.

Seamless Integration with Existing Tools
Motion works with hundreds of common business tools, including Slack, Google Apps, Teams, and Salesforce. Users pay via a credit system, starting at $29 per month for a single seat and basic functionality, scaling up to $600 for 25 seats with full agent access. Custom pricing is also available for larger operations.

Industry Experts Join the Team
Ashutosh Desai, Qi’s executive coach and Y Combinator advisor, joined Motion full-time, bringing seasoned expertise to support the company’s rapid expansion in the AI space.

Founder Motivation Beyond Money
Qi admits that financially, leaving a lucrative hedge fund career was a gamble. Today, his income is modest compared to what he could have earned, but he’s driven by building something genuinely useful. For Qi, seeing customers improve productivity, revenue, and daily workflows with Motion makes every challenge worthwhile.

Motion is rapidly positioning itself as the all-in-one AI solution for SMBs, redefining productivity tools in the age of artificial intelligence.