Lowering customer acquisition cost through AI simulation

This article is a part of Startup Spotlight, a series that features young, up-and-coming startups.

Image credit: Timmy Loen

At EY-Parthenon, David Isaac watched executives commit tens of millions of dollars based on slide decks. He realized strategy required rigorous simulation before execution. He built AIPath to test growth decisions before teams build them.

😟 Problem

About 72% of new products fail, according to Simon-Kucher, while software analytics firm Pendo reports that 80% of features are rarely or never used. These statistics reflect deep upstream decision failures.

CEOs at companies with revenues under US$50 million lack dedicated strategy teams. They absorb complex trade-off calculations without prescriptive support tools, forcing them to rely on subjective instincts.

💡 Solution

• AIPath is a decision intelligence platform that simulates and ranks corporate growth strategies.
• Maps thousands of growth avenues across segments, pricing, and go-to-market moves.
• Links product, engineering, sales, and marketing into one connected causal model.
• Test options in the live market against a control group.
• Outputs a sequenced set of bets with attached reasoning.

Image credit: AIPath

🤝 Team

• David Isaac Matthews. Co-founder. He spent over 20 years building ventures at BCG Digital Ventures and Samsung, and served as CGO at GrowthOps.
• Daniel Baise. Co-founder and CTO. He is a full-stack engineer who previously worked on the core team at talent marketplace WeLoveNoCode.

🚀 Traction

• Secured first place in the 2025 AI Agents Global Challenge.
• Helped an insurance client reduce customer acquisition costs from US$240 to US$43.
• Recreated a telecom company’s 18-month strategy in 17 minutes during a live session.
• Selected as a top 50 finalist in SuperAI’s Genesis Startup Competition.
• Initiated early commercial discussions with CB Insights for a revenue-sharing agreement.

🏆 Competition

Business intelligence platforms like Looker and Mixpanel only describe past events. Prioritization tools organize existing product backlogs without validating the underlying strategy. Management consultants provide static documents that cannot be tested in real time.

AIPath maintains roadmaps for engineering, product, sales, and marketing as a unified system of digital twins. It tests strategies in the live market with statistical confidence before development begins. This system continuously updates the market context.

💰 Financials

The company operates as a SaaS platform that charges customers based on usage. Its primary target market includes companies generating between US$5 million and US$50 million in revenue.

AIPath secured US$100,000 from two angel investors in June 2024. The startup has an additional US$100,000 in hard commitments. It is currently raising a US$1.5 million seed round.

🚩 Risks