Artisan secured $25 million in Series A funding, led by Glade Brook Capital, with support from HubSpot Ventures, Oliver Jung, Day One Ventures, BOND, Soma Capital, Sequoia Scout, and Y Combinator.
This funding advances the mission to eliminate repetitive tasks through AI employees, creating better work software. Instead of integrating AI into inefficient workflows, Artisans fully take over specific roles, starting with outbound sales. Unlike assistants, these AI team members execute tasks independently.
Ava, the AI Business Development Representative (BDR), autonomously finds and researches leads, personalizes outreach, and schedules meetings. Powered by a real-time context engine, Ava analyzes web signals to optimize engagement. Companies like SumUp see 8–15 positive responses weekly without adding sales reps.
A proprietary AI framework ensures performance matches human standards. Ava has evolved from human-supervised (Level 1) to independent outreach (Level 2), with Level 3 in development for advanced strategies and real-time adaptability. The vision includes Level 5 Artisans, excelling across all role-related skills.
Upcoming AI employees include Aaron (Inbound SDR) for lead qualification and Aria (Meeting Assistant) for scheduling and follow-ups, forming a fully autonomous AI sales system. Expansion into marketing and customer success is planned.
To drive this vision, Ming Li joins as CTO, bringing experience from Deel, Rippling, TikTok, and Google, alongside senior engineers from Rippling. Artisan is shaping the future of work by replacing outdated processes with AI employees, allowing humans to focus on uniquely human skills.