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The Y Combinator-backed startup Origami Agents has successfully secured $2 million in seed funding, aiming to develop AI research agents that work alongside human sales teams rather than replacing them. This approach challenges the prevalent trend of fully automating sales processes with AI avatars within the industry.
Founded just four months ago in San Francisco, Origami Agents has swiftly achieved $50,000 in monthly recurring revenue during an eight-week beta phase, making it one of the fastest-growing startups in Y Combinator’s current cohort, according to its founders.
“Humans are essential for closing significant deals, but AI can enhance and expedite that process,” Kenson Chung, co-founder of Origami, stated in an interview with VentureBeat. At just 22 years old, Chung left University College London to embark on this entrepreneurial journey. The AI agents devised by the company are designed to tackle the tedious research tasks that can consume up to three hours of a sales representative’s day.
Origami’s early success starkly contrasts with competitors such as 11x and Artisan, which have amassed tens of millions in funding for their AI avatars that seek to automate sales outreach entirely. The founders of Origami contend that such strategies often backfire, resulting in impersonal communications that can harm customer relationships.
The dashboard of Origami Agents provides a clear view of its AI system’s analysis, helping identify potential sales leads by monitoring digital footprints such as job postings and social media engagement.
AI Sales Research: How Origami Agents Is Transforming B2B Lead Generation
One of the company’s initial customers, Stellar, a property maintenance marketplace, has seen its client portfolio grow eight times within nine months, in part due to Origami’s technology. “The quality of the leads we receive is exceptionally high,” noted Matt Wetrich, Stellar’s CEO and a former Uber executive. “My outbound email close rates are four times the industry average.”
Wetrich, who later became an angel investor in Origami, elaborated that the technology effectively identifies property management firms suitable for Stellar’s services, while screening out unsuitable prospects. This was a task that previously required intensive labor from his team.
“Rather than being raw material, it now arrives as a prime cut, ready to work with,” Wetrich remarked, underscoring the higher quality of leads generated by Origami compared to conventional methods.
The founding team is well-equipped for this venture. Before founding Origami, Finn Mallery crafted custom outbound solutions for over 20 startups and contributed to go-to-market strategies at Fizz, while Chung served as the Chief Technology Officer at an enterprise sales platform.
Experts suggest that the timing is favorable for Origami’s model. Although AI is beginning to reshape various business functions, its integration into B2B sales remains in its infancy. “The landscape will be unrecognizable in three years,” predicted Wetrich. “This opportunity is just starting to emerge.”
The new seed funding will be utilized to diversify Origami’s clientele beyond property management and real estate, venturing into other B2B sectors. Currently, the company’s agents can analyze diverse data sources including product reviews and social media activity to pinpoint potential customers when they are most likely to make a purchase.
The Future of Sales: AI That Works with Humans, Not Against Them
As discussions around AI in sales continue, Origami’s swift progress indicates that enhancing human capabilities may prove more beneficial than attempting to replace them outright. The company’s strategy could serve as a model for how AI can improve, rather than eliminate, human involvement in various business functions.
“It won’t be a typical technology; it will be as transformative as electricity,” Wetrich stated, likening the influence of AI in sales to previous breakthrough technologies. “Revenue is the lifeblood of every business. Identifying innovative ways to drive revenue is what empowers organizations to thrive.”
Source
venturebeat.com