Upword, an Israeli information management business, has launched a new AI-powered research assistant tool and announced the completion of a $3 million pre-seed investment round.

The research tool employs Generative AI to deliver a tailored experience for users based on traditional approaches while enhancing efficiency.

The assistant has a sophisticated UI, which includes a managed content library and an AI co-pilot, among other freshly designed features.

The launch follows a beta experiment with 30,000 users and 1,000 paying clients. While the program is intended for academic use, half of the paid subscriptions originated from outside the academic community.

The funding round included investments from well-known organizations such as Telefonica, a Spanish telecom behemoth, and American venture capital firms Go Ahead Ventures and GoodWater Capital.

“For researchers, the advancement of AI has had little effect on the way they work,” Upword founder and CEO Roee Barak stated.

“The rigorous, step-by-step methodology that defines research has made AI chatbots overwhelming and often inconvenient. While studying in law school, my vision was to build productivity tools that kept me in control, accommodating the need for nuance and rigor in scholarly work while providing the benefits of generative AI. Upword was the result. Now, students, academics, and professionals across many industries have access to a tool that delivers on the promise of GenAI.”