Phaze raises $8.75 million to provide AI agents with remote access to high-performance workstations
November 7, 2026 · 3 min read
Phaze has officially launched its remote desktop service after completing a seed funding round of $8.75 million. The company, founded by the creators of Parsec Technologies, aims to provide autonomous AI agents with dedicated computer access to operate without disrupting human workflows. The funding round was led by Andreessen Horowitz, with additional participation from Index, NextView, Makers, and Lerer Hippeau.
The platform is designed to offer low-latency, high-fidelity remote access to high-performance computers and high-end workstations. This capability allows both human users and AI agents to control distant hardware as if it were physically present. The company identifies a significant efficiency problem in many organizations where automated computer-use agents frequently interrupt employees' screens during daily tasks, reducing human productivity. Additionally, many organizations invest in expensive workstations capable of rendering complex 3D graphics and compiling large amounts of code, with prices often exceeding $10,000. Despite their necessity, IT departments often enforce a one-machine-per-employee policy, leaving this expensive hardware idle while employees are at lunch, in meetings, or on leave.
Phaze addresses this by converting these workstations into a flexible, shared pool of compute resources. This allows anyone in the organization to access the hardware on demand through the company's proprietary low-latency streaming technology. The streaming infrastructure is supported by a specially developed Model Context Protocol server. This server enables computer-use agents to log in and operate the expensive workstations in the same manner as human employees. Consequently, agents can bypass expensive and inflexible APIs to access computers directly, navigate operating systems, launch applications, and complete tasks.
Benjy Boxer, co-founder and chief executive officer of Phaze, stated that the platform supports collaboration between humans and agents to handle more complex tasks. For example, an automated IT support bot could diagnose a problem when a new ticket is created and then hand off the session to a human engineer if the solution is too delicate for the bot to handle independently. Boxer emphasized that the computer on a user's desk should not limit access to processing power. People need powerful workstations to work, and AI agents now need computers they can actually use. The company is building an access layer that allows both people and agents to connect to the machines they need, regardless of location.
Converting expensive workstations into shared infrastructure allows administrators to allocate compute resources flexibly to anyone who needs access based on the fluctuating workflow demands of both humans and agents. The workstations themselves can be placed on desks, installed in data centers, or stored in locked cabinets. Regardless of their physical location, organizations can extract maximum performance from these devices. Phaze's current focus is on convincing organizations of the platform's benefits. Boxer said the funding will be used to accelerate go-to-market plans and increase the number of new customers. The startup also plans to expand its engineering team and develop additional features.
Martin Casado, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, believes Phaze's remote access platform is likely to attract significant attention because workstations are too expensive to be left idle for hours. Casado noted that Phaze is turning these machines into shared infrastructure for people and AI agents. He added that Boxer and his team have been working in this space for over a decade and are bringing that experience to a new era of remote access and computer management.