Exclusive: Koch’s venture arm backs a16z-backed Emanate’s push to bring AI to industrial sales

In much of industrial America, a sale still starts with a spec sheet, an inbox and a rep who has worked the account for 20 years.

Emanate wants AI to do that job, and now it has one of the country’s largest private companies in its corner.

Koch Disruptive Technologies , the venture arm of Koch, Inc ., is making a strategic investment in the San Francisco-based startup, Emanate told Fortune exclusively.

Neither side would say how much.

Koch is private, and Emanate said it doesn’t disclose investment size.

Koch, the second-largest private company in the U.S., runs refineries, factories, farm-to-market supply chains, software and logistics.

Koch said it generates more than $125 billion in annual revenue and employs about 120,000 people in more than 50 countries.

“While much of the conversation around AI has centered on efficiency and cost reduction, we believe some of the biggest opportunities lie in helping companies accelerate growth,” Jon Chisholm, managing director at Koch Disruptive Technologies, said in a statement.

Emanate said the collaboration extends to “Koch Inc. owned companies,” but it wouldn’t name one using the technology.

The 20-year rep Emanate’s bet is that speed wins.

The industrial buyer can usually get the same part from the next supplier, so whoever answers first, with a better read on price, gets the order.

The company says its software sits on top of the systems suppliers already use and pulls that scattered knowledge into one place.

“Doing nothing isn’t neutral in this market,” Nirghin said in a statement.

Fortune previously wrote about Emanate in February, when it came out of stealth with backing from a16z, Peter Thiel and Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian.