Sonali Pattnaik, co-founder of LightHouz AI, shared her journey of moving to San Francisco and building her company in a LinkedIn post. LightHouz AI provides back-office AI solutions for freight brokers, automating accounts payable (AP), accounts receivable (AR) and collections, according to its Y Combinator profile.
Pattnaik said she quit her job in 2024 after nine years as an AI engineer, citing exhaustion from what she described as a toxic work environment for new mothers. She took a leap of faith after being accepted into Y Combinator, packed her bags and moved to San Francisco with her husband and infant. She completed the accelerator program, raised $2.5 million and began building the company full-time.
READ: Amazon launches Android tablets with Alexa+ starting at $230 (October 8, 2026)
In 2025, the startup went through two pivots as Pattnaik and her team worked to find the right product and business model.
“Months of building, customer conversations, and trying to figure out what people would actually pay for. Some things worked. A lot didn’t. Every time we thought we had figured something out, we discovered another assumption we needed to question. I learned more about GTM, customers, and building a business than I had in nearly a decade of engineering,” Pattnaik said, adding that things finally began to come together in 2026.
Today, LightHouz has more than 45 customers across the United States and is developing AI products for the financial operations of service businesses, according to Pattnaik’s LinkedIn post. She said the team continues to build, ship and learn.
“Nine years of engineering taught me how to build technology. Two years of entrepreneurship taught me that most of the limitations we place on ourselves are in our own heads. You can start in your 30s, and still make it into YC. You can be a mother and build a company. You can leave a toxic environment, put yourself together and still build a multi-million dollar business. Your background doesn’t have to define how far you can go.
“And I still feel like getting started,” Pattnaik said.
Read: Indian American founded Aiseptor joins Cornell Tech’s Runway Startup program (September 24, 2026)
According to its Y Combinator profile, LightHouz is used by freight brokers to automate full truckload (FTL) and less-than-truckload (LTL) freight bill auditing, file disputes and invoice customers. The company says brokers using its platform invoice customers 36% faster, get paid five days sooner and reduce back-office costs by 40%.
LightHouz’s website says its AI tools automate collections, accounts receivable invoicing and accounts payable bill audits, helping businesses invoice faster and reduce days sales outstanding to improve cash flow.