Parsec founders raise $8.75M from a16z to give AI agents their own PCs

Phaze, started by the team behind remote desktop firm Parsec, raised an $8.75M seed round led by a16z. It lets employees and AI agents use powerful remote computers, so companies can share workstations instead of buying one for each person.

Phaze, a startup from the founders of remote desktop company Parsec, has raised an $8.75M seed round led by a16z, the company said on Wednesday. Indie, NextView, Makers Fund and Lerer Hippeau also invested.

The Utah-based company lets people and AI agents use powerful computers from anywhere. Designers and engineers can run demanding 3D and design software on a remote workstation, while AI agents can control a machine’s screen and apps.

“The computer sitting on your desk shouldn’t determine what compute you can access,” said chief executive Benjy Boxer.

Phaze’s bet is that companies waste money on idle hardware. Instead of buying each employee a top-end workstation, they could pool machines and hand them out as needed, to staff or to agents.

Agents connect through MCP, a common standard for linking AI to tools, which Phaze still labels experimental. In one demo, a Slack bot takes an IT support request, logs into the user’s computer and calls in a human when it gets stuck. Agents get only the access their users have.

Boxer’s previous company, Parsec, was bought by Unity for $320M in 2021.

Others are also building places for agents to work. Baseten bought Blaxel, which makes sandboxes for AI agents, in September, and Perplexity can turn a Mac mini into an always-on agent. The demand is real: AI agents helped sell out Apple’s Mac mini in the US this spring.