The GenAI boom in recent years has brought a wave of startups promising to support the process of prompt engineering — creating instructions to guide an AI chatbot to generate useful output. Tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini allow users to input queries, where both the content and phrasing can impact the results.

PromptLayer, based in New York, entered this space early by launching a tool to assist app developers in managing the prompting process around two years ago. Originally started by founders with experience in AI chatbots, the platform has evolved into a prompt management product available for third-party businesses, aiming to help with the development of AI apps.

The company recently closed a $4.8 million seed round to continue advancing its approach. PromptLayer’s product centers around a “prompt registry” that acts as a CMS and version control for prompts. This platform includes tools for testing, logging, and analyzing different prompts to determine the most effective version.

PromptLayer focuses on supporting non-technical users, such as professionals in various fields like education, legal, and healthcare. The platform aims to allow domain experts to collaborate with engineers using a visual prompt CMS, putting them in control of app development without requiring coding skills.

With the increasing interest in leveraging large language models (LLMs), PromptLayer aims to provide tools for users to test different prompts and evaluate their performance across various LLMs. By empowering domain experts to lead the charge in app development, PromptLayer believes it is taking a unique approach within the industry.

Looking ahead, PromptLayer plans to expand its team, improve its platform for more use cases, and engage in community building to foster the field of prompt engineering. The startup has seen significant growth this year and asserts that the future of AI development will rely on domain experts guiding the process.