Abhay Kalra
| Abhay Kalra | |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur, software engineer, CEO |
|---|---|
| Known for | Founder and CEO of Avent (AI agents for industrial commerce) |
| Education | University of California, Berkeley (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) |
Abhay Kalra is an Indian-American entrepreneur and software engineer who founded Avent, a startup building artificial intelligence agents for industrial commerce. The company joined Y Combinator's Summer 2025 batch and provides AI-driven automation tools for manufacturers and industrial distributors to streamline quoting, order entry, and inbox management.[1]
Early life and education
Growing up, Kalra worked in his family's electrical and industrial distribution business in India, where he observed administrative tasks accumulating and reducing the time available to staff, blocking the business from growing. Inside sales staff spent their days processing orders rather than developing new business. He later studied electrical engineering and computer science at the University of California, Berkeley.[2]
Career
Kalra's experience in his family's distribution business directly informed the founding of Avent. He had observed the same structural problem repeated across industrial distribution: growth stalled whenever a company attempted to scale, because existing staff were buried in order processing and could not adequately train new hires. The underlying issue was that inside sales teams spent the majority of their working hours on repetitive administrative tasks rather than revenue-generating activity. Avent was founded to address that problem directly.[3]
The platform uses AI agents to automate core sales operations for manufacturers and industrial distributors. It manages sales inboxes, builds quotes using historical pricing data and client-specific information, and maintains records in existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. The platform integrates with major ERP systems including Epicor, Oracle NetSuite, and SAP, operating alongside existing infrastructure rather than replacing it.[4]
The platform is constructed in distinct functional layers. A data layer pulls information from ERP, customer relationship management (CRM), and product catalog systems. An integration layer connects those systems through application programming interfaces (APIs). A knowledge layer captures the business rules and pricing logic specific to each customer's configuration. An action layer draws on that knowledge to generate quotes and process orders automatically. An intelligence layer handles document understanding and AI-driven reasoning across the entire system.[5]
The company was founded in 2025 and launched on August 14, 2025, with backing from Y Combinator as part of the Summer 2025 cohort. Kalra serves as sole founder and CEO.[6] Avent has been identified as part of a broader emerging category described as B2B agentic commerce, in which AI systems operate as autonomous sales channels for industrial businesses.[7] The company's stated mission is to allow industrial sales teams to focus on relationship-building and business development by delegating routine transactional work to AI agents, enabling distributors to grow revenue without proportional increases in headcount.[8]
References
- ↑ "Avent – Y Combinator". 'Y Combinator}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "Second Generation Distributor Creates AI Sales Rep Startup". 'Modern Distribution Management}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "Second Generation Distributor Creates AI Sales Rep Startup". 'Modern Distribution Management}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "Avent – Transform Industrial Commerce with AI". 'Avent}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "Avent – Transform Industrial Commerce with AI". 'Avent}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "Avent – Y Combinator". 'Y Combinator}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "B2B Agentic Commerce Emerges with AI-Driven Sales Channels". 'LinkedIn}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "Second Generation Distributor Creates AI Sales Rep Startup". 'Modern Distribution Management}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.