FOUNDER
Who is Mamal Amini?

Mamal Amini is an experienced tech entrepreneur with a diverse background, having lived in 7 different countries across Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and North America over the past 8-9 years.

Mamal explained to me that he is a "tech-nerd" by training, with a master's degree in computer science from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Mamal is an AI/Machine Learning scientist, having co-authored over 10 foundational models with experts like Yoshua Bengio (godfather of AI) and Doina Precup (DeepMind Director).

He has built LLMs like GPTs before the rise of ChatGPT and has co-invented systems built with AI for multiple industries. Most notably: to shorten the chip design cycle.

He co-founded GovernGPT with his best friend, who he met as a roommate in Toronto. The two have complementary skill sets, with Mamal as the CEO and his co-founder as the CTO.

Mamal started GovernGPT to address the problem of excessive manual data entry and processing that he observed in the private markets industry.

COMPANY
What is GovernGPT?

GovernGPT is a Y Combinator-backed company that serves institutional fundraisers.

There is an extensive amount of manual data entry and processing work required in the private markets industry, such as at hedge funds, private equity firms, and asset managers.

Mamal identified that 80-90% of this repetitive work, like compiling quarterly reports and responding to data requests, could be automated using AI. However, he found that the existing solutions in the market were built 15 years ago using rigid software practices, and were unable to effectively handle the unstructured data and nuanced language used in the private markets.

Leveraging his strong technical background and expertise in AI, Mamal started GovernGPT to bring a more flexible and innovative approach to automating these manual tasks. Govern's AI models and processes are tailored specifically to the needs of private markets clients, allowing for a higher degree of automation compared to general tools.

Mamal saw an opportunity to disrupt the incumbent service providers in this space, who have large teams of 50-500 building out-dated software. By applying AI in a more effective way, GovernGPT aims to significantly reduce the time and resources required, freeing up private markets professionals to focus on higher-value work.

GovernGPT is advised by Tom Blomfield- 2x unicorn founder (GoCardless and Monzo).

THE PROBLEM

In starting GovernGPT, Mamal identified a significant pain point in the private markets industry - the excessive manual data entry and processing work required.

Mamal explained to me that the tasks Govern is focused on automating today are so insane that sometimes you have teams of two or three people who are full time fulfilling these requests.

THE SOLUTION

Rather than just using a general tool like Microsoft's Copilot, Mamal and his team have developed custom AI models and processes tailored to the specific needs of their private markets clients.

With GovernGPT, you can dump data like ILPA DDQs, PPMs, LPAs, track record spreadsheets, etc. into the software, and AI finds past relevant content and recycles it for new requests in a fully compliant manner.

• Here are the benefits GovernGPT offers to customers:

  • Time: “Save more than 80% of the time by only focusing on net new content and a lower touch on repeat questions.”

  • Efficient Collaboration: “All internal data is always available, zeroing back and forth between IR and SMEs.”

  • Happier Workforce: “With AI handling mundane tasks like copy-pasting, tagging, searching, formatting, and data integration, your team can focus on higher leverage work.”

• Mamal's strong technical skills and AI expertise are central to his ability to identify an industry problem and build a solution that automates manual tasks in a way the existing players have been unable to do.

IDEAL CUSTOMER PROFILE (ICP)

They tend to be hedge funds managing anywhere from a few billion dollars all the way to ~$100 billion.

Mamal explained to me that $100 billion AUM funds tend to be the biggest-or where they have seen the most success.

There's also private equity firms, again, anywhere from like $5 billion to $200 billion AUM.

For VC’s, they need to be around $10 billion or close to it in order to have the problem of extensive manual data entry. This is because the problem GovernGPT solves is really for the interaction between institutional LP’s and GP’s.

By and large, the institutional LP’s that require this type of manual task far more than essentially any other LP are pension funds.

There is a high demand from LPs who deal with a large portion of consultants.

WHERE DO YOU SEE GOVERN IN TWO YEARS?

Mamal sees Govern in two years as the number one, established GenAI player for hedge funds in the industry.

“We will be focused on illustrating exactly how we've been able to do what we're doing, how we're approaching growth strategies, what the impact is, and how much time savings we've generated for our customers. Look out for 3 parallel case studies from teams managing a few billion all the way up to nearly $100B AUM.”

“We were able to onboard some of these teams within minutes. We strongly believe execution is what ultimately separates all of us who landed on a good idea (using AI for RFPs and DDQs) and we're incredibly well positioned to execute having partnered with firms of various sizes already at the earliest innings.“

TL;DR

Mamal started GovernGPT to solve a major pain point in the private markets industry using his technical expertise in AI, with the goal of automating a large portion of the excessive manual work that currently plagues the sector.

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