Two years after Meta announced the discontinuation of its Workplace enterprise communication platform, a team of former Meta engineers is stepping into the void with a new AI-powered offering. Slashwork, a London-based startup, has successfully secured $3.5 million in seed funding, signaling strong investor confidence in its vision for the future of corporate collaboration.
The funding round was backed by a notable group of investors, including Cal Henderson, a co-founder of Slack, and Sandberg Bernthal Venture Partners, the investment firm of former Meta Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg. This infusion of capital underscores the pedigree of the founding team and the perceived market opportunity.
Slashwork, co-founded by Jackson Gabbard, David Miller, and Josh Watzman, aims to revolutionize enterprise communication by integrating artificial intelligence at its core. While drawing inspiration from established platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams, Slashwork differentiates itself by embedding large-language model embeddings into every piece of content. This foundational AI layer promises to unlock significantly more robust search capabilities and enable intelligent AI agents to assist users in discovering information and assets within the platform.
“We started with the existing paradigms and asked, ‘What does the 2026 AI era look like?'” explained CEO Jackson Gabbard in a recent interview. “What happens when you begin to rethink everything from the ground up, with AI seamlessly integrated wherever it makes sense?”
The demise of Meta’s Workplace, which shuttered in 2024 to allow the social media giant to pivot towards its Metaverse and AI initiatives, created a clear opening in the market. Workplace, launched in 2016, mimicked the familiar social media interface for enterprise users, aiming to enhance internal connectivity. Its closure left a significant user base seeking alternatives.
The new venture has attracted support not only from Sandberg but also from other prominent Meta alumni, including former revenue chief David Fischer, ex-ads chief Carolyn Everson, and former sales leader AJ Tennant. Tennant, who also boasts early experience at Slack, highlighted the strategic advantage of AI integration.
“AI agents that proactively support getting work done, coupled with seamless communication, will bridge many of the existing gaps in enterprise collaboration,” Tennant noted.
Julien Codorniou, who previously led Facebook Workplace to achieve 11 million paid subscribers, is now a board member at Slashwork and has overseen its incubation at the venture capital firm 20VC. Codorniou emphasized the transformative potential of AI in communication: “The current generation of tools – Slack, Teams, Zoom – are roughly a decade old and pre-date widespread AI adoption. They were optimized for human-to-human interaction. With AI, we can facilitate human-to-system communication, vastly amplifying the possibilities for collaboration and productivity.”
Slashwork is initially targeting smaller, technology-focused companies for its launch. A broader rollout is anticipated later this year. The company plans to maintain a lean operational structure, with the newly acquired funds primarily directed towards design and product development, aiming for iterative improvements based on early user feedback.
Original article, Author: Tobias. If you wish to reprint this article, please indicate the source:https://aicnbc.com/17019.html
