AlphaSense acquires Y Combinator-backed Carousel, an AI assistant for Excel

Core Insights - AlphaSense, a business intelligence platform, has acquired Carousel, a startup that provides an AI assistant for generating financial spreadsheets and models in Excel [1][6] - AlphaSense has reached an annual recurring revenue of $500 million and serves 6,500 corporate clients, with a valuation of $4 billion [2][6] - The acquisition aims to enhance AI-powered spreadsheet generation tools, automating tedious tasks for analysts [3][5] Company Overview - AlphaSense was founded in 2011 and has experienced significant growth, particularly in the last four quarters, attributed to the rise of generative AI [2][5] - Carousel, founded in 2023 and part of Y Combinator's Winter 2024 batch, will have its entire team integrated into AlphaSense [3][6] Market Impact - The integration of Carousel is expected to automate many steps in financial modeling, particularly benefiting entry-level and mid-level employees [7][8] - AlphaSense's previous acquisition of Tegus for $930 million shifted its client base towards financial services, indicating a strategic focus on automating workflows in this sector [5]