Artisan, an AI startup focused on creating fully ‘autonomous’ AI sales employees and a collaborative software ecosystem, has raised $11.5 million in seed funding. This funding round was led by Oliver Jung, an early investor in high-profile companies like Airbnb, Rippling, and Revolut, among others. Additional investors included Sequoia Scout, Y Combinator, Soma Capital, BOND Capital, Anu Hariharan, Paul Daversa, Fellow’s Fund, Mento VC, and more.
Artisan is now based in San Francisco, but it was founded in the UK by Jaspar Carmichael-Jack, a serial entrepreneur who started his journey when he was just seven years old. Today, he is building what he sees as the next industrial revolution. Artisan AI’s leadership team also includes Dr Rupert Dodkins, CTO and Oxford PhD graduate, and Samantha Stallings, CPO and IBM product and engineering veteran.
The AI startup raised $7.3 million in funding back in May 2024, and it is currently working on preparing for its Series A funding and onboarding as many mid-market and enterprise clients as possible. With this investment, Artisan is set to redefine the landscape of AI collaboration and drive significant advancements in workplace efficiency.
The startup story?
With an aim to revolutionise the way businesses integrate AI into their operations, six months ago, Artisan was accepted into Y Combinator with a small team of three. Since then, the company has made remarkable progress, launching the second version of its platform and expanding its workforce to 13 employees. The platform has already attracted hundreds of companies, showcasing the growing demand for effective AI-driven solutions in the market.
The company launched its AI Sales Agent, Ava, in February 2023, designed to automate 80% of a Business Development Representative’s (BDR) role. Ava operates within the Artisan Sales platform, consolidating multiple outbound sales tools into one. This innovative software uniquely automates personalized email writing with dynamic playbooks that can mimic any human writing style. Recent months have shown strong interest from large B2B SaaS companies eager to streamline their complex software stacks.
Looking ahead, Artisan plans to introduce additional AI agents: Liam, the Marketing Artisan, and James, the Customer Success Artisan.
Picture Credits: Artisan
AI employees outperform humans
Back in April 2024, they announced the launch of Version 2 — introducing Level 2 Autonomy for its AI agents. This new level enabled Ava to operate independently, crafting and sending emails in different styles without requiring direct human input.
Further, the company is working on developing Level 3 autonomy, where their AI agents will not only execute tasks but also manage complex decision-making processes within defined scenarios. The company’s goal is to achieve Level 5 autonomy, where AI employees outperform humans in all relevant skills.
“We are witnessing a pivotal moment in history,” said Jaspar Carmichael-Jack, Artisan’s 23-year-old CEO and co-founder of Artisan. “Work is changing forever, and we believe we are on the brink of the next Industrial Revolution. Artisan aims to lead the way in making AI employees a mainstream reality.”
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