Yoodli, a Seattle startup that uses generative AI to analyze speech and offer tips for improving communication skills, raised $13.7 million in a new investment round.
The Information reported the funding Tuesday.
Companies such as Databricks, RingCentral, Snowflake and others use Yoodli to help their employees prep for sales pitches. Its software lets users create personas to simulate conversations with another person or multiple people. The company’s model is trained on effective communication techniques and can be customized depending on an organization’s goals.
Yoodli is gaining traction amid increased usage of AI tools to improve real-life conversations. Other companies are developing similar AI roleplay coaching tools.
Varun Puri and Esha Joshi launched Yoodli in 2021 at the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2) incubator in Seattle. The startup got off the ground with a consumer-focused offering targeted at practicing public speaking.
The company earlier this year showed how its tech worked by analyzing President Trump’s inauguration speech.
Speaking last year on the Shift AI podcast, Puri noted that Yoodli won’t be able to give feedback on the nuances of communication.
“That’s way too human,” he said. “But when we have human coaches using Yoodli as part of their workflow, they can now coach hundreds more clients.
“My pitch to speech coaches is, if you’re the doctor, we are the medical report. If you’re the accountant, we are TurboTax. Let’s help you supercharge the work you’re doing. And I think companies leveraging AI with that humility, but also in partnership with human coaches, will likely find the most value.”
Yoodli has partnered with public speaking organization Toastmasters and consulting firm Korn Ferry.
Puri is a former product manager with X Development, the R&D organization of Google parent Alphabet, and Joshi was a product manager at Apple.
The startup’s investors include Madrona Venture Group, Cercano Capital, AI2, Ascend, and others. Neotribe led the latest round, The Information reported.
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