Ascerta Raised $18 Million for AI Cost Optimization

The startup provides enterprise observability tools to track usage and reduce wasted AI infrastructure spending.

Updated on Sept. 30, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence

Ascerta Raised $18 Million for AI Cost Optimization

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Ascerta, formerly known as Pay-i, has raised $18 million in Series A funding to expand its enterprise AI management platform. The startup focuses on providing visibility into AI usage and costs to improve overall investment outcomes.

Why it matters

Enterprises are increasingly seeking ways to quantify the financial return on their AI deployments as initial development costs scale. Ascerta offers a centralized platform to monitor whether activity justifies investment through granular tracking of tools and costs.

The company reports that its platform has enabled an 86% reduction in wasted AI spend, a 47% improvement in initiative ROI, and a 24% decrease in agent launch times. These performance figures are based on internal company claims rather than third-party benchmarks.

The players

Ascerta

An enterprise AI management startup that provides observability tools to track usage, costs, and project outcomes.

Dell Technologies Capital

The venture capital arm of Dell Technologies that invests in infrastructure, security, and enterprise software startups.

David Tepper

A co-founder of Ascerta.

Doron Holan

A co-founder of Ascerta.

Erik Winters

A co-founder of Ascerta.

The details

Ascerta functions by connecting to an enterprise's existing AI toolchain and internal applications to aggregate data across multiple workflows. The platform tracks specific usage patterns, outcomes, and costs broken down by individual, team, and tool. This visibility allows organizations to identify inefficiencies in AI deployment that may lead to underutilized resources or inflated operational costs.

Ascerta was founded in 2024.
The company raised a $4.9 million seed round in May 2025.
The company announced its $18 million Series A funding on September 30, 2026.

The Tech Race

Ascerta is positioning itself within the competitive landscape of AI observability, where firms attempt to provide financial clarity for increasingly complex enterprise software stacks. The company is currently racing to broaden its integrations across all major enterprise AI tools to maintain market relevance.

This development currently impacts enterprise IT procurement and AI operations teams looking to optimize their software budgets. The platform is aimed at organizations managing significant AI initiatives, with future availability dependent on the company's planned expansion of integrations.

The takeaway

Ascerta is betting that financial transparency will become a prerequisite for sustained AI adoption in the enterprise. Watch for the company's next product updates as it attempts to integrate with a wider range of third-party AI tools.