# o9 Solutions
o9 Solutions, Inc. is a private enterprise-planning software company founded in 2009 in Dallas, Texas by [Sanjiv Sidhu](https://www.edgepedia.org/sanjiv-sidhu) and Chakri Gottemukkala, which sells an AI-powered cloud platform called the "Digital Brain" for [integrated business planning](https://www.edgepedia.org/integrated-business-planning) across supply chain, commercial, and finance decisions; it remains operating as of 2026.[1](https://research.contrary.com/report/o9-solutions) • [2](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1562915/000156291523000001/0001562915-23-000001.txt)
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2009, Dallas, Texas, by Sanjiv Sidhu and Chakri Gottemukkala[1](https://research.contrary.com/report/o9-solutions) |
| Sector | Enterprise planning software ("Digital Brain" platform)[1](https://research.contrary.com/report/o9-solutions) |
| Total raised | $533 million as of August 2025 per press; $341 million aggregate per SEC Forms D[1](https://research.contrary.com/report/o9-solutions) • [2](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1562915/000156291523000001/0001562915-23-000001.txt) |
| Latest round | $116 million, July 2023, at a $3.7 billion valuation[3](https://o9solutions.com/news/existing-investors-double-down-on-o9-solutions-growth-with-incremental-investment-at-3-7-billion-valuation) |
| Notable investors | KKR, General Atlantic (BeyondNetZero), Generation Investment Management[3](https://o9solutions.com/news/existing-investors-double-down-on-o9-solutions-growth-with-incremental-investment-at-3-7-billion-valuation) |
| Headcount | Over 3,000 by 2024, up from 300 in 2019[5](https://dallasinnovates.com/how-dallas-o9-solutions-built-a-multi-billion-dollar-digital-brain/) • [1](https://research.contrary.com/report/o9-solutions) |
| Status | Operating as of 2026[4](https://o9solutions.com/news/o9-apex-ai-planning-model) |
## History and founding
Sanjiv Sidhu, o9's chairman, founded the supply chain software company i2 Technologies in 1988 and earlier worked in the Texas Instruments AI Lab developing AI systems.[5](https://dallasinnovates.com/how-dallas-o9-solutions-built-a-multi-billion-dollar-digital-brain/) i2 was acquired by JDA Software for $604 million in 2010, according to Contrary Research; Dallas Innovates dates the $604 million sale to 2008.[1](https://research.contrary.com/report/o9-solutions) • [5](https://dallasinnovates.com/how-dallas-o9-solutions-built-a-multi-billion-dollar-digital-brain/) Sidhu and Chakri Gottemukkala, o9's CEO, had worked together at i2; for Gottemukkala, o9 was his first startup.[1](https://research.contrary.com/report/o9-solutions) • [5](https://dallasinnovates.com/how-dallas-o9-solutions-built-a-multi-billion-dollar-digital-brain/)
The founders spent nearly six years building the technology before bringing the Digital Brain platform to market commercially in 2014.[5](https://dallasinnovates.com/how-dallas-o9-solutions-built-a-multi-billion-dollar-digital-brain/) The company was profitable by 2017 without outside investment and appeared on the Inc 5000 list for six consecutive years.[5](https://dallasinnovates.com/how-dallas-o9-solutions-built-a-multi-billion-dollar-digital-brain/) A Form D filed December 6, 2012 records a small $3 million Rule 506 offering with a first sale on December 3, 2012, and lists Gurdip Singh (Managing Partner), Sanjiv Sidhu, Chakradhar Gottemukkala, and Ijaz H. Parpia as related persons; the filing confirms the 2009 incorporation.[6](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1562915/000156291512000001/0001562915-12-000001.txt)
## The Digital Brain platform
At the core of the o9 Digital Brain is the Enterprise Knowledge Graph (EKG), a graph-based model of the business that continually fuses internal and external data, such as ERP data and market signals, into a real-time digital twin of the value chain.[1](https://research.contrary.com/report/o9-solutions) Through the platform, organizations run real-time "what-if" scenario simulations to evaluate alternatives and see financial or operational impacts instantly.[1](https://research.contrary.com/report/o9-solutions) Igor Rikalo, o9's President and COO, describes the EKG as the master "dot connector" at the heart of the platform, exchanging plan information, scenarios, and assumptions.[5](https://dallasinnovates.com/how-dallas-o9-solutions-built-a-multi-billion-dollar-digital-brain/)
The platform is positioned as a replacement or augmentation of legacy planning systems such as SAP APO or Excel-based planning workflows.[1](https://research.contrary.com/report/o9-solutions) In March 2026 the company extended the architecture with the APEX Model, a set of Agile, Adaptive, and Autonomous Planning and Execution capabilities whose key technology is a new Enterprise Knowledge Graph powered by Neuro-Symbolic AI, which the company says connects the strengths of large language models (Neural AI) with the strengths of the original symbolic Enterprise Knowledge Graph.[4](https://o9solutions.com/news/o9-apex-ai-planning-model)
## Funding and investors
o9 was bootstrapped for over a decade before taking its first external investment from KKR in 2020, a $100 million round at a $1 billion valuation.[1](https://research.contrary.com/report/o9-solutions) In January 2022 it raised $295 million at a $2.7 billion valuation (Dallas Innovates reports the round as $296 million).[1](https://research.contrary.com/report/o9-solutions) • [5](https://dallasinnovates.com/how-dallas-o9-solutions-built-a-multi-billion-dollar-digital-brain/) On July 19, 2023 the company announced an additional $116 million from existing investors, led by [General Atlantic](https://www.edgepedia.org/general-atlantic)'s BeyondNetZero fund with participation from KKR and Generation Investment Management, valuing o9 at $3.7 billion, up from $2.7 billion at the January 2022 round.[3](https://o9solutions.com/news/existing-investors-double-down-on-o9-solutions-growth-with-incremental-investment-at-3-7-billion-valuation) A Form D filed August 1, 2023 corroborates the round, reporting $116,000,000 of securities sold under Rule 506(b) with a first sale on July 18, 2023; the filing lists Igor Rikalo as President and COO and names Sanjiv Sidhu, Jake Heller, and Gary Reiner as directors.[2](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1562915/000156291523000001/0001562915-23-000001.txt)
Contrary Research puts total capital raised at $533 million as of August 2025, though within the same report the 2020, 2022, and 2023 rounds sum to $511 million (or $512 million using $296 million for 2022), an internal discrepancy.[1](https://research.contrary.com/report/o9-solutions) The aggregate reported across the company's SEC Form D filings is lower, about $341 million, because no Form D is cited for the 2020 and 2022 rounds.[2](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1562915/000156291523000001/0001562915-23-000001.txt) • [6](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1562915/000156291512000001/0001562915-12-000001.txt)
## Business, customers and traction
o9 operates a SaaS subscription model, selling multi-year enterprise licenses priced by modules deployed, user seats, company size, and data volume; pricing is not publicly listed.[1](https://research.contrary.com/report/o9-solutions)
Growth figures come mostly from company disclosures. The company reported 65% ARR growth in 2022, 67% year-over-year ARR growth as of Q1 2023, and 55% as of Q2 2023.[3](https://o9solutions.com/news/existing-investors-double-down-on-o9-solutions-growth-with-incremental-investment-at-3-7-billion-valuation) Dallas Innovates reports ARR up 51% year-over-year in the first three quarters of 2023, with headcount rising from 300 employees in 2019 to 2,500 across 17 offices worldwide by late 2023.[5](https://dallasinnovates.com/how-dallas-o9-solutions-built-a-multi-billion-dollar-digital-brain/) Contrary Research reports ARR growth of 37% in 2024, headcount over 3,000 by 2024, and a 60% year-over-year increase in new customer acquisition in Q1 2025; one estimate it cites puts revenue above $200 million as of early 2023, among the top five global supply chain software vendors by revenue.[1](https://research.contrary.com/report/o9-solutions)
The record does not name specific customers or describe the economics of individual deployments.
## How it compares with Kinaxis, Blue Yonder and SAP IBP
Contrary Research's benchmarks frame o9's valuation against listed and acquired peers. Kinaxis reported $360 million of ARR in Q4 2024 with a market cap of $3.5 billion, implying a revenue multiple of roughly 9.7x. [Blue Yonder](https://www.edgepedia.org/blue-yonder) was acquired by [Panasonic](https://www.edgepedia.org/panasonic) in 2021 for $7.1 billion, at a reported $475 million ARR, roughly 15x. Against an assumed ARR near $200 million, o9's $3.7 billion valuation likely implies a forward revenue multiple in the 15–18x range.[1](https://research.contrary.com/report/o9-solutions)
A structural tailwind for all planning vendors is SAP's retirement of APO, which is built on legacy architecture designed for transactional consistency rather than agile, scenario-based decision-making. SAP has been trying to sunset APO since 2017 and currently expects to do so in 2027, urging customers to migrate to [SAP Integrated Business Planning](https://www.edgepedia.org/sap-integrated-business-planning) (IBP).[1](https://research.contrary.com/report/o9-solutions)
## Recent developments
No new primary funding round is recorded after July 2023. In July 2025 the company announced continued momentum in Q2 2025 with global client expansions, high-impact go-lives, and expanded platform capabilities.[7](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250710915772/en/o9-Accelerates-Enterprise-Value-Creation-in-Q2-2025-with-Platform-Innovation-and-Global-Client-Expansion) On March 26, 2026, o9 reported 2025 highlights including more than 130 successful go-lives and 28 consecutive quarters of ARR growth, with the platform serving more than 30 industry verticals, and launched the APEX Model with Neuro-Symbolic AI.[4](https://o9solutions.com/news/o9-apex-ai-planning-model)
## References
1. Report: o9 Solutions Business Breakdown & Founding Story, Contrary Research. https://research.contrary.com/report/o9-solutions
2. SEC Form D, o9 Solutions, Inc., filed August 1, 2023. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1562915/000156291523000001/0001562915-23-000001.txt
3. Existing Investors Double Down on o9 Solutions' Growth, o9 Solutions. https://o9solutions.com/news/existing-investors-double-down-on-o9-solutions-growth-with-incremental-investment-at-3-7-billion-valuation
4. o9 Introduces APEX Model to Accelerate Enterprise AI Planning and Value Creation, o9 Solutions. https://o9solutions.com/news/o9-apex-ai-planning-model
5. How Dallas' o9 Solutions Built a Multi-Billion-Dollar Digital Brain, Dallas Innovates. https://dallasinnovates.com/how-dallas-o9-solutions-built-a-multi-billion-dollar-digital-brain/
6. SEC Form D, o9 Solutions, Inc., filed December 6, 2012. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1562915/000156291512000001/0001562915-12-000001.txt
7. o9 Accelerates Enterprise Value Creation in Q2 2025, Business Wire. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250710915772/en/o9-Accelerates-Enterprise-Value-Creation-in-Q2-2025-with-Platform-Innovation-and-Global-Client-Expansion
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