11. June 2025
Automate price quote generation with AI and GRID’s spreadsheet API
What if your inbox could answer itself, using the pricing and product logic already in your spreadsheet?
That’s exactly what we demonstrate in our demo video, featuring Bloom and Brew, a (fictional) catering business that uses a custom GPT to generate quotes and draft email replies to customers. With the GRID API and ChatGPT, the setup is straightforward, and it removes the need to manually update the spreadsheet or write every customer message from scratch.
The business behind the idea
Bloom and Brew is a sandwich and juice shop that offers catering for events. They keep all their pricing, menus, and discount logic in a spreadsheet. The number of items offered depends on how many people are being served, and discounts scale with volume. It's an everyday spreadsheet that works well, but handling incoming emails and generating replies was starting to feel repetitive.
The manual process
A typical email might look like: "Hey, we're having a work happy hour on Thursday for about 35 people. Please send over a suggestion."
Responding used to involve:
Typing the number of guests into the spreadsheet
Looking at what menu items and quantities it suggested
Manually writing an email reply with pricing and selections
It worked, but it took time - and it was easy to forget something.
The new approach: AI assistant + GRID API
Now, with a custom GPT connected to the spreadsheet via the GRID API, the process is automatic. You paste the email into the assistant, and it:
Retrieves the number of people and other relevant information
Calculates how many sandwich and juice types are needed
Works out and applies the volume discount based on the spreadsheet
Writes a complete reply email, with pricing and item details from the spreadsheet
The assistant runs these inputs through a copy of the original spreadsheet, meaning that the original version remains untouched. It also means that many calculations can be run simultaneously across multiple chats.
Under the hood
The assistant setup is straightforward:
Upload the spreadsheet to GRID
Use the GRID API to define an action the GPT can call
Instruct the assistant in plain language, like:
“Read the number of people from the email”
“Look up how many menu types to include”
“Format a reply with the final selections and pricing”
You can also define the tone of the response. In Bloom and Brew’s case, they asked for something hip, fun, and breezy - matching their brand voice.
The instructions automatically generated by GRID helps the GPT understand exactly how to use the spreadsheet.
Less admin, more impactful work
This is a small but meaningful automation: a single assistant that reads a spreadsheet, applies your rules, and writes replies so you don’t have to. No changes to your spreadsheet logic. No extra tools. Your spreadsheet runs the numbers. Your assistant writes the reply. Together, they handle the busywork so that you have time for more meaningful tasks.
Want to try it? Check out the step-by-step tutorial here and try GRID for free today.
Also: Bloom & Brew is actually based on Joe & the Juice which we did a very successful implementation with. Read the case study here and learn about how they save 6 hours per week on busywork using the GRID API and ChatGPT.
News
Updates and announcements
02.12.2024
Bringing spreadsheets into the AI-first era
Introducing GRID's new mission The current wave of AI is arguably the biggest shift in user interfaces since the advent of the GUI. Meanwhile, spreadsheets remain a cornerstone of the business world — resilient, ubiquitous, and indispensable despite repeated predictions of their demise. The fusion of AI and spreadsheets is poised to be big, but it requires a fundamental rethinking — not bringing AI to traditional spreadsheets, but reimagining spreadsheets and their workflows for the AI-first era. With a unique set of cutting-edge spreadsheet technologies, GRID is uniquely positioned — and determined — to lead this transformation. AI-First The AI-first paradigm is defined by three key characteristics: Language-oriented: We interact with computers in our language, not theirs. Task-centric: Work starts with the task at hand, not the hunt for the right software. Agentic: Computers will act on our behalf, even when we’re not there. Spreadsheets Spreadsheets are not just tools; they are foundational to modern business: Ubiquitous: Over 1 billion users worldwide rely on them. Empowering: As the original low-code solution, they enable business users to solve problems independently. The fabric of business: Spreadsheets likely hold more business logic and data than any formal IT system. Bringing them together With the world’s most advanced independent spreadsheet engine — designed for lightning-fast performance and seamless compatibility with Excel and Google Sheets — and a suite of other powerful spreadsheet technologies, GRID is uniquely positioned to redefine the future of spreadsheets in an AI-first world. We’re bridging the gap between AI and spreadsheets, delivering the reliable and verifiable calculations that AI solutions currently lack. Bringing spreadsheets to ChatGPT Today, we’re taking a major step forward by expanding the Alpha testing of our ChatGPT solution and opening registrations for early access. Sign up now to secure your spot in the Alpha and see GRID’s solution in action!
26.08.2020
GRID closes $12M in Series A funding round led by NEA
We’re thrilled to announce that we have closed a $12M Series A funding round led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), with participation from our existing investors BlueYard Capital, Slack Fund, Acequia Capital and other strategic partners! This funding will enable us to bring GRID to market and power accelerated product development. For more information see our press release. Additional coverage: Tech Crunch: GRID raises $12M Series A to turn spreadsheets into 'visual narratives' SiliconANGLE: Iceland's Grid lands $12M to help workers make their spreadsheets more visual Tech Target: Analytics startup Grid raises $12 million in funding
27.03.2019
GRID closes $3.5M seed funding
We are thrilled to share some great news with you: We just closed $3.5M in seed funding! The investment is led by BlueYard Capital, with participation from strategic investors such as Slack Fund, Acequia Capital and angel investor Charlie Songhurst. We are happy to work with this group, as they add a lot of value to our mission other than their funding. Needless to say, they deeply believe in our mission to empower people to turn any spreadsheet into a beautiful web report, dashboard or interactive application. After our private Alpha launch a few weeks ago, we are now all heads-down again working on product, strategy, network expansion and go-to-market planning. This investment - on top of our $1M angel round in October - fuels current plans well into 2021. It gives us breathing room to focus on building the initial version of our product, take it to market and grow it from there - by delighting our users. We will be adding a few people to our team in the coming weeks and months. This is a fantastic opportunity to join an exciting startup at an inflection point. Take a look at our open positions, and keep an eye on our tweets.