Former 2U exec launches AI startup to democratize data science

Data analytics might be the last thing leadership teams think about, especially in small and medium-sized businesses. One startup developed a new human-like tool to make insights easier to understand. 

E:cue, a Bethesda company that emerged from stealth Wednesday, houses an agentic artificial intelligence platform for go-to-market teams to better comprehend consumer data, as well as get tips on how to improve outcomes and develop new business strategies. 

For example, a user can ask “Cue” how to find new revenue streams, reduce overhead costs and improve conversion rates. It also cleans a company’s data so it can be as effective as possible, per Harsha Mokkarala, the founder and CEO of E:cue.

This full-stack tool is a step up from a traditional generative AI bot, he explained. Because it’s agentic, or able to act more independently than other AI models, it makes decisions by analyzing data specifically for marketing and sales teams and monitors performance. 

“Agentic AI makes it really, really possible to embed that type of intelligence and that type of analytics deep in the heart of an organization,” Mokkarala told Technical.ly, “without them having to really build tons and tons of infrastructure.”

E:cue has roughly eight to ten customers, although Mokkarala declined to name any. He also raised a seed round with participation from the local firm Ardent Venture Partners but declined to disclose the amount. Ardent Venture Partners invests in early-stage software startups, with a fund focused on AI companies.

Most companies Ardent Venture Partners invests in are pre-revenue, so investors at the firm focus on the strength of the founder, how successful that entrepreneur will be in pursuing their idea and if the product could change the market. E:cue aligned with those parameters, per Phil Bronner, the investment firm’s cofounder and managing partner. 

“Harsha is world-renowned,” Bronner told Technical.ly, adding: “What he’s trying to do, which is to basically create a virtual or embedded data scientist … he was a uniquely suited founder for that.”

Bronner will be “very active” in E:cue’s development and serve on its board, he said.  

Mokkarala built his reputation on the back of a 20-year career at large enterprises. He started his career at the McLean-headquartered banking giant Capital One, where he ran marketing for its credit card division. 

He also spent 11 years at the educational technology company 2U as chief marketing officer, chief revenue officer and chief data scientist. Mokkarala met Ardent Venture Partners’ Bronner, then a 2U board member, during that time. Mokkarala left the company in January 2024 as other leadership shifted and the publicly traded firm faced financial challenges. 2U filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy over the summer but later restructured and emerged as a private entity. By October, it lost a CEO and moved across state lines from Prince George’s County, Maryland to Arlington, Virginia. 

Mokkarala left 2U because it was “time to move on,” he said. 

When he left, he knew he wanted to continue working in data science but came up with this concept after his departure. Mokkarala started E:cue a few months after resigning from 2U. 

Through his work experiences, he learned how important it is to have comprehensive, clean data about consumer behavior. Companies need to take these insights seriously, he said, and that’s where E:cue comes in. 

He observed that small- to medium-sized companies get shut out of finding insights like consumer behavior because resources don’t exist for it. Not having access to data, or access to clean data, is a struggle. 

“Having lived the life of a chief revenue officer and chief marketing officer before,” he said, “their lives absolutely, absolutely suck, for the lack of a better [word], because they just don’t have access to this type of thing.”

Other agentic AI tools exist on the market, like one from Salesforce, but most are on the development side rather than the consumer side, Mokkarala said.

Clients are already giving positive feedback, too. 

“We’ve had clients tell us things that take them weeks,” he said, “this can be done for them in days and minutes.”

He’s been hands-on in developing the technology with a team of six people, leading the product and engineering at E:cue. 

“Nothing makes me happier than if you throw a messy data set my way,” Mokkarala said. “That is almost my Sunday morning pastime.”