Sequoia Capital invests in AI tool that could replace junior bankers
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Rogo Technologies builds software that helps investment bankers with certain tasks, aiming to eventually create the AI equivalent of a banking analyst.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO FILE
Follow topic:
NEW YORK – Sequoia Capital is making a bet on the future of Wall Street, leading an investment in Rogo Technologies, a start-up developing artificial intelligence (AI) tools to make bankers more efficient, according to people familiar with the matter.
Rogo builds software that helps investment bankers with certain tasks, and eventually aims to create the AI equivalent of a banking analyst. The new deal more than doubles its valuation from earlier in 2025 to US$750 million (S$972 million).
The start-up is likely to raise US$50 million and US$100 million as part of the new deal, which has not yet closed, said the people. Spokespeople for Rogo and Sequoia declined to comment.
Rogo was founded in 2022 by former investment bankers Gabriel Stengel, who worked at Lazard, and John Willett, who worked at JPMorgan Chase & Co, along with Mr Tumas Rackaitis, who was formerly a software engineer at Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. Earlier in October, the company hired former Lazard managing director Rahul Rekhi as president.
Young bankers often work upwards of 80 hours a week building PowerPoints and detailed models ahead of mergers and leveraged buyouts. Rogo says its software shortens that process. It uses AI to create slide decks – a core part of an investment banker’s workflow – as well as helping draft initial public offering documents and the financial models that underpin deals.
“It’s no secret that AI’s gone mainstream in Wall Street, and the firms that are able to use AI to augment their junior professionals – make them more productive – are going to have a huge advantage over the firms that can’t,” Mr Stengel said in an interview earlier in 2025.
Rogo’s customers include investment firm Tiger Global and investment banks Lazard and Moelis & Co, according to its website.
Sequoia’s investment comes as OpenAI trains its models to handle similar financial tasks, aiming to automate much of the grunt work typically done by junior bankers. OpenAI is working with more than 100 former investment bankers for the effort, code-named Mercury, Bloomberg reported. AI start-up Anthropic has also introduced new tools tailored to the banking and asset management industry, including Claude for Excel, the company said in a blog post on Oct 27.
Rogo also faces competition from both large financial institutions and start-ups. JPMorgan has developed its own AI-powered chatbot to help employees write, summarise documents and solve complex problems using spreadsheets, while start-ups such as Hebbia can quickly analyse documents and regulatory filings for finance professionals.
There are growing concerns that AI tools like Rogo’s could limit early-career bankers’ ability to develop certain core skills. In response to those concerns, Mr Stengel told Bloomberg in July that Rogo helps “investment bankers actually ramp more quickly”, adding, “the best investment bankers are very ambitious and very smart and they will want to learn the details”. BLOOMBERG
