Data crunching AI startup ThoughtSpot raises $145 mln

SAN FRANCISCO, May 8 (Reuters) - Artificial intelligence company ThoughtSpot, whose technology enables sophisticated searches of corporate data, has raised $145 million in fresh funding, underscoring investor appetite for technology that promises to automate tasks once done by humans. The company announced the new funding on Tuesday. Chief Executive Officer Ajeet Singh said in an interview that the round was more than double what he had set out to raise and would likely be the final private fundraising before an initial public offering in as little as two years. The funding values the company at $950 million, up from $450 million after its last fundraising, according to venture capital data firm PitchBook Inc. ThoughtSpot sells businesses software that uses artificial intelligence - teaching computer systems to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence - to make queries and deliver answers from a massive set of data. Company employees can search corporate data much the same as making a query using Google Search.