{"id":342249,"date":"2017-05-30T19:00:47","date_gmt":"2017-05-30T11:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1495475"},"modified":"2017-05-30T19:00:47","modified_gmt":"2017-05-30T11:00:47","slug":"people-ai-raises-7m-to-automate-sales-ops-for-the-enterprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/people-ai-raises-7m-to-automate-sales-ops-for-the-enterprise\/","title":{"rendered":"People.ai raises $7M to automate sales ops for the enterprise"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/team-photo.jpg?w=738\" class=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"speakable-summary\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/people.ai\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">People.ai<\/a>\u00a0is a startup using\u00a0AI to give sales managers a predictive playbook for\u00a0the best way to close a deal. The company is announcing it has raised $7 million in Series A funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Index Ventures and Shasta Ventures also participated in the round, alongside existing investors Y Combinator and SV Angel. Nakul Mandan, partner at Lightspeed,\u00a0is also joining People.ai\u2019s board of directors.<\/p>\n<p>The problem the sales management platform\u00a0is trying to solve is that managers coach teams based on intuition rather than data. People.ai wants to change this by providing a holistic view of every outreach and action reps take to close deals. The software\u00a0lets you\u00a0see where in the pipeline sales reps\u00a0are spending the most time\u00a0and identify the metrics tied to success. Work smarter, not harder, right?<\/p>\n<p>The goal is to have full visibility into\u00a0salespeople\u2019s processes\u00a0with a visualization that shows\u00a0much time top performers are spending at each phase of a deal, and where struggling reps may be\u00a0deviating from typically successful methodology. Are salespeople too zoned in on one phase of a deal? Not spending enough time talking to product managers, executives or other decision makers? Are they even focusing\u00a0on the right leads? Those are the questions People.ai\u2019s algorithms seek to answer.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0solution tracks activity across different communication touch points between salespeople and clients. The tech scans email, phone calls, calendar meetings and produces a dashboard showing how much time is spent\u00a0in each phase of a deal, who was contacted and what the outcome was.<\/p>\n<div class=\"slideshow slideshowify\">\n<ol>\n<li>\n<div class=\"image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-thumb=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/opportunities-sorted-by.png?w=80&amp;h=60&amp;crop=1\" data-full-size-image=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/opportunities-sorted-by.png\" data-large-size-image=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/opportunities-sorted-by.png?w=1&amp;h=1\" data-trigger-notification=\"1\" data-scalable=\"false\" alt=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/opportunities-sorted-by.png?w=1&amp;h=1\" data-tc-lazyload=\"deferred\" src=\"https:\/\/s0.wp.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/techcrunch-2013\/assets\/images\/1x1.png\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\"\/><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"title\">Opportunities sorted by $<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-thumb=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/account-filters.png?w=80&amp;h=60&amp;crop=1\" data-full-size-image=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/account-filters.png\" data-large-size-image=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/account-filters.png?w=1&amp;h=1\" data-trigger-notification=\"1\" data-scalable=\"false\" alt=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/account-filters.png?w=1&amp;h=1\" data-tc-lazyload=\"deferred\" src=\"https:\/\/s0.wp.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/techcrunch-2013\/assets\/images\/1x1.png\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\"\/><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"title\">Account Filters<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-thumb=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/leaderboard-with-feed.png?w=80&amp;h=60&amp;crop=1\" data-full-size-image=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/leaderboard-with-feed.png\" data-large-size-image=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/leaderboard-with-feed.png?w=1&amp;h=1\" data-trigger-notification=\"1\" data-scalable=\"false\" alt=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/leaderboard-with-feed.png?w=1&amp;h=1\" data-tc-lazyload=\"deferred\" src=\"https:\/\/s0.wp.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/techcrunch-2013\/assets\/images\/1x1.png\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\"\/><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"title\">Leaderboard with Feed<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-thumb=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/ranking.png?w=80&amp;h=60&amp;crop=1\" data-full-size-image=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/ranking.png\" data-large-size-image=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/ranking.png?w=1&amp;h=1\" data-trigger-notification=\"1\" data-scalable=\"false\" alt=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/ranking.png?w=1&amp;h=1\" data-tc-lazyload=\"deferred\" src=\"https:\/\/s0.wp.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/techcrunch-2013\/assets\/images\/1x1.png\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\"\/><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"title\">Ranking<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol><\/div>\n<p>When <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2016\/08\/02\/people-ai-is-using-machine-learning-to-rewrite-the-sales-ops-playbook\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">People.ai launched<\/a> last year, CEO and machine learning veteran Oleg Rogynskyy wanted to build an AI that would help automate sales ops as a function. Since then, the company realized they wanted to refocus on solving this same problem but with an eye on the enterprise.<\/p>\n<p>There are many companies building out features related to conversational AI like Chorus.ai and VoiceOps. People.ai sees these companies as data sources, but that their own solution is\u00a0the backbone that reads\u00a0all types of sales activity.<\/p>\n<p>Rogynskyy tells me that recently, the company is\u00a0seeing strong interest coming from the enterprise and Fortune 500 companies. People.ai will use the funding to scale out its product and sales teams, and engage in more enterprise-focused R&amp;D.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/team-photo.jpg?w=680\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/team-photo.jpg?w=680 680w, https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/team-photo.jpg?w=1360 1360w, https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/team-photo.jpg?w=150 150w, https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/team-photo.jpg?w=300 300w, https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/team-photo.jpg?w=768 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/>&nbsp;People.ai\u00a0is a startup using\u00a0AI to give sales managers a predictive playbook for\u00a0the best way to close a deal. The company is announcing it has raised $7 million in Series A funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Index Ventures and Shasta Ventures also participated in the round, alongside existing investors Y Combinator and SV Angel. Nakul Mandan, partner at Lightspeed,\u00a0is also&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2017\/05\/30\/people-ai-raises-7m-to-automate-sales-ops-for-the-enterprise\/?ncid=rss\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"feedflare\">\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?a=yUTFubwbUeg:neupxD5OTkU:2mJPEYqXBVI\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?d=2mJPEYqXBVI\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?a=yUTFubwbUeg:neupxD5OTkU:7Q72WNTAKBA\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?d=7Q72WNTAKBA\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?a=yUTFubwbUeg:neupxD5OTkU:yIl2AUoC8zA\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?a=yUTFubwbUeg:neupxD5OTkU:-BTjWOF_DHI\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?i=yUTFubwbUeg:neupxD5OTkU:-BTjWOF_DHI\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?a=yUTFubwbUeg:neupxD5OTkU:D7DqB2pKExk\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?i=yUTFubwbUeg:neupxD5OTkU:D7DqB2pKExk\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?a=yUTFubwbUeg:neupxD5OTkU:qj6IDK7rITs\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?d=qj6IDK7rITs\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/Techcrunch\/~4\/yUTFubwbUeg\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" alt=\"\"\/> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5817,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[59,66,26],"class_list":["post-342249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-media","tag-techcrunch","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5817"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342249\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}