Large corporations possess vast amounts of internal data and information that employees require to complete tasks or respond to customer inquiries. However, accessing the right information can be a daunting task.

Onyx, a company specializing in internal enterprise search tools, aims to address this issue. Although the market is competitive, with notable players like Glean having secured $600 million in venture funding, Onyx differentiates itself by being open-source. This distinctive approach sets it apart from other companies in the field.

Companies can deploy Onyx in approximately 30 minutes, and it seamlessly connects to over 40 internal data sources, including Salesforce, GitHub, and Google Drive. Enterprise users can then opt for additional features, such as enhanced sign-in security and encryption, by upgrading to premium tiers.

According to Chris Weaver, co-founder and co-CEO of Onyx, he and his co-founder, Yuhong Sun, initially sought to resolve a problem they encountered in their respective engineering roles. They found it challenging to locate specific information, despite having a general idea of where it might be, and new employees often struggled to find anything.

Weaver recalled, “It felt like there must be a more efficient way to do this.” Onyx is not the first company founded by Weaver and Sun; their previous ventures, including a live stats tracking app for Twitch streamers and a website for comparing specialty keyboards, did not gain traction.

However, with Sun’s background in machine learning and the advancements in AI technology, Onyx, initially called Danswer, showed promise. The open-source project, released in 2023, garnered significant momentum and feedback from the outset.

As Sun explained, “Ramp was one of the early teams to discover us. At the time, we didn’t have a payment system or support plans in place, but people were eager to pay for our project. This reaction made us realize that there might be an opportunity to build a business around it.”

Today, Onyx collaborates with numerous enterprises, including Netflix, Ramp, and Thales Group. Sun and Weaver attribute the company’s success largely to its decision to open-source the software, enabling companies to experiment and bypass lengthy enterprise sales cycles.

Weaver stated, “Open source is the only way for this type of solution to scale and gain momentum across every business worldwide.”

Although the internal search market is competitive, with startups like Glean and companies like Klarna, which has developed an internal search and chatbot tool called Kiki, Onyx remains confident in its open-source approach. The company believes that building an internal search tool from scratch is a challenging task, and Onyx can serve as a foundational tool for companies seeking to develop their own internal search products.

The proof lies in the numbers, according to Sun, who reported, “We’ve seen explosive growth in usage, with a peak of over 160,000 messages in a single week. We aim to leverage this organic growth and hopefully make Onyx the go-to internal search tool for all teams worldwide.”

Onyx recently secured a $10 million seed round co-led by Khosla Ventures and First Round Capital, with participation from Y Combinator and prominent angel investors, including Gokul Rajaram, Arash Ferdowsi, and Amit Agarwal.

The company plans to utilize these funds to expand its team and develop more premium features, further solidifying its position in the internal search market.