YC-Backed Stratum Launches AI Agents to Clear US Government Backlogs

Co-founder Raj Jagiasi announced the launch on LinkedIn, citing specific delays: 853,000 Americans waiting on disability decisions, 777,000 unexamined patent applications, and 221,800 bridges awaiting repair pending paperwork. "The government wants to move faster. It just doesn't have the software to do it," he wrote.

Stratum runs hundreds of AI agents in parallel, each reviewing applications in seconds. According to Jagiasi, an entire backlog can be cleared in the time it once took to review a single file. He described the effort as "making the American government one of the most AI-run organizations ever."

The company was founded by brothers Vihaan and Raj Jagiasi. Vihaan, a former founding engineer at Cadastral, dropped out of Waterloo to build Stratum. Raj, who led go-to-market at Deel and ranked in the top five of over 1,000 sales reps globally, left graduate school at the University of Bath for the startup.

The founders envision a future where government interactions feel as seamless as using a ride-hailing app. Users would instruct their own Stratum agent to handle applications, while government agents review and respond, with approvals or rejections delivered the same day. "No waiting days, weeks, or months," they said.