Ascerta Raises $18M Led by Dell Technologies Capital to Prove Which AI Spend Pays Off

Ascenta, a company specializing in enterprise AI management, has raised $18 million in Series A funding led by Dell Technologies Capital. The platform developed by the Bellevue-based firm tracks AI costs down to the individual user, team, and use case, including sub-token charges, hidden fees, and enterprise discounts. Ascenta aims to connect these spending details to the business outcomes each initiative was meant to deliver, providing CIOs, CFOs, and AI leaders with a single system for deciding which projects to scale, fix, or cut.

The investment round was led by Dell Technologies Capital, with participation from Hitachi Ventures, BGV, Wipro Ventures, and existing investors. Dell Technologies Capital's managing director, Raman Khanna, previously served as Stanford University's chief information officer and has experience investing in data and security companies. The Series A funding brings Ascenta's total backing to $22.9 million, following a $4.9 million seed round in 2021 focused on measuring AI application costs.

The growth of AI spending has outpaced the return on investment for many organizations, as demonstrated by IBM's survey of 2,000 CEOs, which found that only 25% of AI initiatives delivered expected returns and 16% were scaled across the enterprise. Gartner predicts that worldwide AI spending will reach $2.67 trillion in 2026, with a further 36% increase to $3.64 trillion in 2027.

This rapid growth is particularly evident in categories like AI agents and assistants, generative AI models, and AI cybersecurity, which are expected to grow about fourfold between 2025 and 2027.

Ascenta's strategic investors, including Wipro, Hitachi, and Dell, recognize the company's focus on addressing the challenges of measuring AI spending and outcomes. The company's expansion into Enterprise AI Management aligns with the growing need for better measurement in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.