Intelligent cloud file browser company Poly today announced $8 million in seed funding to overhaul file systems to work with AI.
After two years in stealth, the company is introducing a reimagined file system built for the next generation of work. In an era where humans are storing and generating more files than ever, Poly layers intelligence directly inside of its file browsing application, which syncs local files to the cloud.
Felicis led the round, with participation from Bloomberg Beta, NextView, Figma Ventures, AI Grant, and Wing Ventures.
This allows files to live on an individual’s computer, while Poly adds an AI-powered interface that can instantly search, summarize, tag, and organize content across formats. Users can ask the Poly agent about their documents, videos, images, and audio and receive accurate, context-aware answers from anywhere in their file system. The agent can then take actions on their files to generate new content, such as summaries, transcripts, tabulations, podcasts and presentations.
This latest cash infusion will support product development, AI infrastructure, and early team expansion as Poly launches its desktop application, whilst opening its waitlist to the public.
“Poly was built on the belief that in an AI-first world, the file system itself has to evolve,” said Abhay Agarwal, founder and CEO of Poly. “We created a browser that replaces Finder or File Explorer with an intelligent interface that can help search, understand, and create across terabytes of information. It’s like having an LLM with infinite context from your life.”
Poly’s unique ingredient is a proprietary embedding model, Polyembed-v1, which understands a vast array of content types, including text, PDFs, documents, presentations, spreadsheets, audio, video, code, and URLs. This allows the agent to deliver deeper insights with precise citations including time codes and page numbers. According to Poly, their embedding model outperforms similar ones for not only document retrieval, but also broad search queries and multimodal requests involving text and media.
“What Abhay’s team has created is a new ‘tool for thought’ that is native to AI”, said James
Cham, partner at Bloomberg Beta, in a statement. “They’re not just technical virtuosos, they’re also distilling that complexity into something universal and human. We all desperately need the file browser to come back.”
Early beta users have used Poly to simplify research, organize creative assets, and uncover
insights hidden in archives. From support teams searching thousands of pages of internal documentation to researchers analyzing complex archives and creators generating new visuals from reference folders, Poly is helping people work across formats in smarter, more generative ways.
“Poly is redefining how people connect with their own information,” said David Beisel, partner at NextView Ventures, in a statement. “Instead of burying knowledge in folders, Poly surfaces context and creativity—turning everyday files into a personal intelligence layer that helps people work and think faster.”
With its launch, San Francisco-bsaed Poly redefines how intelligence lives inside the tools people already use every day. Poly is now expanding early access and will begin onboarding new users from its waitlist on November 19. Poly’s desktop application is available for MacOS, with a Windows version coming soon. Interested users can join at https://poly.app.