# Pulse Raises $3.9M Seed to Scale Unstructured Document Extraction for AI

**Author:** Zero G Talent
**Published:** 2026-11-07
**Category:** software
**Tags:** yc-hiring, document intelligence, computer vision, natural language processing, software engineering, sales

[Read on Zero G Talent](https://zerogtalent.com/blog/pulse-raises-3-9m-seed-to-scale-unstructured-document-extraction-for-ai)

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[Pulse](https://zerogtalent.com/ai-companies/pulse), a San Francisco document intelligence startup founded in 2024, raised $3.9 million in seed funding in a round led by Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross. Additional investors in the round include Y Combinator, Sequoia Scout, Soma Capital, Liquid 2 Ventures, and individual executives from Nvidia, OpenAI, and Ramp, as reported by [Business Insider](https://www.businessinsider.com/unstructured-data-extraction-startup-pulse-funding-nat-friedman-daniel-gross-2025-2). Total funding recorded for the company stands at $4.4 million following its participation in the Y Combinator S24 batch.

Pulse builds software that converts complex, unstructured document formats—such as PDFs, Word files, and Excel spreadsheets—into structured data inputs ready for large language models and enterprise pipelines. CEO [Sid Manchkanti](https://zerogtalent.com/people/sid-manchkanti) told [Business Insider](https://www.businessinsider.com/unstructured-data-extraction-startup-pulse-funding-nat-friedman-daniel-gross-2025-2) that enterprises lose 20% to 30% of their critical data using legacy extraction tools, creating a bottleneck for businesses building custom AI copilots and agents.

## Converting Messy Documents into Model Inputs

Pulse uses a multi-stage architecture to parse visual and textual data without loss of structural context. Its technical stack includes layout understanding models for component detection, targeted low-latency OCR, custom reading order algorithms, table structure recognition, and fine-tuned vision-language models for processing charts and figures.

Standard language models often degrade visual detail when processing raw document pages. In an interview with [The American Bazaar](https://americanbazaaronline.com/2025/02/07/pulse-plans-to-test-and-integrate-gemini-2-0-for-document-processing459242/), CTO [Ritvik Pandey](https://zerogtalent.com/people/ritvik-pandey) noted that probabilistic token prediction in standard LLMs frequently introduces subtle errors into financial numbers and tables. Pulse combines traditional computer vision algorithms with vision transformers and models like Google's Gemini 2.0 to preserve numeric and visual accuracy across data pipelines.

## Founder Backgrounds

Pulse was co-founded by [Sid Manchkanti](https://zerogtalent.com/people/sid-manchkanti) and [Ritvik Pandey](https://zerogtalent.com/people/ritvik-pandey). Manchkanti, who serves as CEO, earned a degree in computer science from UC Berkeley and previously worked as a software developer at Nvidia and D. E. Shaw.

Pandey serves as CTO. He studied computer science and mathematics at Georgia Tech before joining Tesla as a machine learning engineer, where he worked on the company's Dojo supercomputer project. He also brings software engineering experience from Goldman Sachs.

## Expanding Engineering and Commercial Teams in San Francisco

Pulse employs 12 people and runs a full-time, five-days-a-week in-office workplace in San Francisco. The company provides daily meal stipends, healthcare benefits, and relocation assistance for candidates moving to the Bay Area.

Following its seed funding, Pulse is expanding its engineering and go-to-market teams to handle additional file types, including audio and video formats. Technical candidates can apply for infrastructure and modeling roles such as [Software Engineer, Inference](https://zerogtalent.com/ai-jobs/pulse/software-engineer-inference-79499), [Machine Learning Engineer](https://zerogtalent.com/ai-jobs/pulse/machine-learning-engineer-79498), and [DevOps Engineer](https://zerogtalent.com/ai-jobs/pulse/devops-engineer-79497). The company is also building out its sales organization with an open [Account Executive](https://zerogtalent.com/ai-jobs/pulse/account-executive-79502) position.

## Open Roles at Pulse

| Role | Location | Work Mode | Salary |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Growth and Marketing](https://zerogtalent.com/ai-jobs/pulse/growth-and-marketing-109047) | San Francisco | Onsite | Not listed |
| [Forward Deployed Engineer](https://zerogtalent.com/ai-jobs/pulse/forward-deployed-engineer-79495) | San Francisco | Onsite | $140,000 – $200,000 |
| [DevOps Engineer](https://zerogtalent.com/ai-jobs/pulse/devops-engineer-79497) | San Francisco | Onsite | $150,000 – $210,000 |
| [Machine Learning Engineer](https://zerogtalent.com/ai-jobs/pulse/machine-learning-engineer-79498) | San Francisco | Onsite | $160,000 – $220,000 |
| [Software Engineer, Inference](https://zerogtalent.com/ai-jobs/pulse/software-engineer-inference-79499) | San Francisco | Onsite | $150,000 – $230,000 |
| [Design Engineer](https://zerogtalent.com/ai-jobs/pulse/design-engineer-79500) | San Francisco | Onsite | $110,000 – $150,000 |
| [Software Engineer](https://zerogtalent.com/ai-jobs/pulse/software-engineer-79496) | San Francisco | Onsite | $140,000 – $200,000 |
| [Account Executive](https://zerogtalent.com/ai-jobs/pulse/account-executive-79502) | San Francisco | Onsite | $100,000 – $150,000 |
| [Business Development Representative (BDR)](https://zerogtalent.com/ai-jobs/pulse/business-development-representative-bdr-86138) | San Francisco | Onsite | $80,000 – $120,000 |

[See all open roles at Pulse](https://zerogtalent.com/ai-companies/pulse)

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*Source: [Zero G Talent](https://zerogtalent.com), the job board for space, defense, AI, robotics and frontier-tech companies.*