What Happened to Cohere.io? The Curious Case of a Promising AI Startup That Disappeared

Ever wondered what happens when a promising AI startup with top-tier investors, cutting-edge tech, and brand-name clients suddenly goes quiet—with barely a whisper?

That’s exactly what happened to Cohere.io, an artificial intelligence-powered customer support platform that once claimed to automate up to 60% of support tickets using large language models (LLMs). Backed by heavyweights like Y Combinator and Initialized Capital, and serving over 200 customers—including rampaging fintech star Ramp—it seemed like Cohere.io was poised for a breakout moment.

So why did it vanish?

The short answer? A strategic acquisition. Ramp acquired the company in June 2023, effectively ending Cohere.io’s run as an independent startup.

But the longer answer tells a deeper story: one about timing, product-market fit, and the shifting terrain of AI adoption. Let’s take a closer look.

What Was Cohere.io?

Cohere.io (not to be confused with Cohere AI, the language model company) was an AI-powered platform founded in 2020 by Yunyu Lin and Rahul Sengottuvelu. The startup aimed to transform how businesses handled customer support by leveraging generative AI to automate resolving support tickets.

Core idea: Instead of having human agents answer repetitive customer queries, Cohere.io used large language models (LLMs) to process incoming requests and either answer them automatically or assist agents with context-rich suggestions—dramatically reducing response times and improving consistency.

Notable Points:

• Founded: 2020, in New York
• Founders: Yunyu Lin (CEO) and Rahul Sengottuvelu (CTO)
• Funding Raised: $3.5 million from investors including Initialized Capital, Y Combinator, and angels like Naval Ravikant and Zach Perret
• Customers: Ramp, Deel, Loom, SecureFrame, and more
• Main Product: AI-powered support automation platform
• USP: Claimed to replace 60% of agent workload through natural language automation

In many ways, Cohere.io was ahead of the AI curve—developing its platform well before ChatGPT made LLMs a household term.

Yet fast forward to mid-2023, and the company was no longer marketing itself or acquiring new customers. Why?

Why Did Cohere.io Shut Down?

Short Answer:

Cohere.io was acquired by Ramp in June 2023. The shutdown of its standalone service was a strategic decision tied to this acquisition—not a result of failure, poor traction, or a flawed product.

Long Answer:

The full story of Cohere.io’s shutdown is less failure and more strategic absorption. But to understand why things played out as they did, we need to look at six key dimensions:

1. Product-Market Fit Was Good—but Niche

Cohere.io’s technology worked—and it worked well enough to attract hundreds of customers, especially in industries with complex, multi-product environments. Automating up to 60% of support tickets is no small feat.

But even excellent tech can face challenges if the market you're addressing is either:

• Too narrow (e.g. high-dependency verticals like B2B SaaS), or
• Already saturated (Zendesk, Intercom, and others that offered AI-assisted tools)

Despite their success, Cohere.io operated within a specific slice of the support automation niche, which may have limited its long-term growth trajectory.

2. No Real Monetization Crisis—But Scaling Was Costly

There’s no concrete evidence that Cohere.io was unprofitable or burning unsustainable levels of cash. However, scaling enterprise sales, AI infrastructure, and customer support simultaneously can be capital-intensive—especially for a team of just six.

Acquisition by a well-capitalized partner like Ramp relieved that burden and allowed the product to evolve under a broader umbrella.

3. Competitive Pressure Was Growing Fast

Although Cohere.io had a first-mover advantage, the post-ChatGPT world came roaring through in late 2022 and 2023. By that time,:

• OpenAI's tools became widely available.
• CRM and helpdesk platforms rolled out "AI assistants."
• Companies like Intercom, Ada, and Forethought began embedding LLMs directly.

As generative AI went mainstream, standalone support-focused AI startups began blending into an increasingly crowded and commoditized landscape. Cohere.io needed either to scale fast or integrate deeper into existing platforms.

4. Leadership Made a Strategic Call

Instead of pushing on as a small startup in a high-burn, highly competitive market, Cohere.io's founders chose to join a larger ecosystem where their tech could have greater impact.

Ramp, a financial operations automation platform used by over 15,000 businesses, was already a customer of Cohere.io and saw clear synergies. The acquisition positioned both teams to double down on AI in finance—an expanding and lucrative sector.

As Yunyu Lin put it, the goal was to apply Cohere’s learnings to “build powerful, trustworthy AI that helps customers understand and automate their finances.”

5. Funding Was Solid, But Not Massive

Cohere.io raised $3.5 million in total—good for a seed-stage startup, but relatively light when compared to other AI-centered ventures. For context:

• Intercom, before launching its AI Suite, had raised over $200M.
• Forethought pulled in tens of millions to go head-to-head in AI support.

Without a $20M+ war chest, Cohere.io likely faced a tough path to expansion—especially with infrastructure costs tied to LLM usage mounting.

6. Timing Was Critical—And in Their Favor

Unlike many startups that sell due to declining traction, Cohere.io sold at a moment when:

• AI was hot,
• Ramp had just raised $750M, and
• Enterprises were acutely interested in automating operations

In essence, the team sold high—and on their own terms. A rare thing in the startup world.

How Cohere.io Compares to Its Successor and Peers

If you’re wondering why Ramp succeeded while Cohere.io didn’t remain independent, here’s the key:

Ramp vs. Cohere.io: How the Two Approached AI

• Ramp focused on finance operations—expense reporting, accounting, vendor management—areas ripe for LLM efficiency.
• Cohere.io focused narrowly on customer support automation.

Once merged, Cohere.io’s AI brains began targeting more lucrative verticals—like spend analysis and fraud detection—within Ramp’s platform.

Meanwhile, competitors in the support automation space like Forethought and Ada stayed independent, but had either raised more funding or carved out clearer enterprise sales channels to remain afloat.

Final Thoughts: Was It a Failure or a Strategic Evolution?

You might expect a postmortem like this to conclude that Cohere.io failed. But in reality, this was more of a graceful exit—an example of a rising startup getting acquired not because it had to, but because it made sense.

Cohere.io bet early on AI for customer support—and they built a legitimately useful product that businesses relied on.

Their eventual acquisition wasn't the result of collapse, but strategy. Still, it meant the end of Cohere.io as a standalone brand, making it a shutdown in the traditional sense.

For founders and investors, the takeaway here is clear: sometimes, the smartest move isn’t scaling alone—it’s joining forces when the right strategic door opens.

FAQs About Cohere.io

Who founded Cohere.io?
Yunyu Lin and Rahul Sengottuvelu co-founded the company in 2020.

When did Cohere.io come out?
The company launched in 2020 as an AI platform focused on customer support automation.

When did Cohere.io shut down?
The company ceased independent operations following its acquisition by Ramp on June 26, 2023.

How much funding did Cohere.io raise?
Cohere.io raised a total of $3.5 million in venture capital, including a seed round from Initialized Capital and Y Combinator.

Why did Cohere.io fail?
Short answer: It didn’t "fail" in the traditional sense—it was strategically acquired by Ramp.
Long answer: The acquisition occurred at a time when generative AI was booming, Ramp saw strong alignment with Cohere.io’s tech, and the startup lacked the massive funding needed to scale independently.

Is Cohere.io still running?
Its product continues to serve existing customers in maintenance mode under Ramp, but it’s no longer a standalone brand or actively developed.

If you were ever curious how even successful AI startups can “disappear” without scandal or collapse, Cohere.io is a case study in shutdown-by-acquisition—a soft landing with strategic purpose.