""However one feels about Koch or the \"robber barons,\" it struck me that Das has a point: In the thousands of pitches I've received, I don't know if anyone has ever come to me saying \"here's my new holding company.\" However, a holding company-a business structure whose purpose it is to hold interests in other businesses-is a model with vaunted history, pioneered in the 1800s by John D. Rockefeller and, I would argue, perfected in modern times by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.""
""In 2014, Das started Titan Holdings, seeking to focus on applying AI to industries like healthcare and finance. Since then, Das-a former Cambridge AI PhD student who dropped out to start Titan-has launched several operating companies, including disease intervention researcher Dascena (acquired by CirrusDx in 2022) and autism care startup Forta Health (which raised a $55 million Insight Partners-led Series A in 2024).""
""While such conglomerates exist today (like Koch Industries or Danaher), you don't necessarily see new ones being formed, Das adds. There are holding companies in tech (take Alphabet, for instance) and Das believes a holding company can particularly work in AI, where it can be helpful to transfer insights and knowledge across domains. One example Das points to: Tesla's experience manufacturing, he points out, has been helping Elon Musk's xAI build its data centers.""
Holding-company structures historically coordinated adjacent industries and enabled large-scale operations. Contemporary conglomerates still exist, but new holding companies are less common. A holding-company model can suit AI by transferring insights and capabilities across domains, improving operational leverage. Examples include tech holding structures like Alphabet and industrial conglomerates such as Koch, Danaher, and Berkshire Hathaway. Titan Holdings launched in 2014 to apply AI in healthcare and finance and has spawned operating companies including Dascena (acquired in 2022) and Forta Health (raised $55 million Series A in 2024). Titan operates as a holding company rather than a venture fund and does not have LPs.
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