{"id":177587,"date":"2025-12-06T02:24:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T02:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/177587\/"},"modified":"2025-12-06T02:24:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T02:24:10","slug":"ex-googlers-yoodli-triples-valuation-to-300m-with-ai-built-to-assist-not-replace-people-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/177587\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Googler\u2019s Yoodli triples valuation to $300M+ with AI built to assist, not replace, people"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Yoodli Image Credits:Yoodli <\/p>\n

Yoodli<\/a>, an AI-powered communication training startup, has reached a valuation of more than $300 million \u2014 more than triple its level six months ago \u2014 as it builds technology meant to assist people rather than replace them with machines.<\/p>\n

The valuation increase follows Yoodli\u2019s $40 million Series B round, led by WestBridge Capital with participation from Neotribe and Madrona. It comes after a $13.7 million Series A round<\/a> announced in May, bringing the startup\u2019s total funding to nearly $60 million.<\/p>\n

As AI tools spread into workplaces and fuel fears of automation, Yoodli positions itself differently. The four-year-old, Seattle-based startup uses AI to run simulated scenarios \u2014 including sales calls, leadership coaching, interviews, and feedback sessions \u2014 and provides users with structured, repeatable practice to improve their speaking skills.<\/p>\n

Varun Puri (pictured above, right), who previously worked at Google\u2019s X division and handled special projects for Sergey Brin, co-founded Yoodli with former Apple engineer Esha Joshi (pictured above, left) in 2021. He became aware of communication challenges after moving to the U.S. at 18 and seeing how difficulty expressing ideas or speaking confidently affected students and young professionals from countries such as India \u2014 himself included \u2014 Puri said in an interview.<\/p>\n

Initially, Yoodli was meant to help people practice public speaking \u2014 a skill two out of three people struggle with, Puri told TechCrunch, citing internal data. However, the startup soon saw users turning to the platform for interview preparation, sales pitches, and difficult conversations. That shift pushed Yoodli from a consumer-focused product to enterprise training, and it now offers AI role-plays and experiential learning tools for go-to-market enablement, partner certification, and management coaching.<\/p>\n

\"Yoodli Yoodli\u2019s platformImage Credits:Yoodli <\/p>\n

\u201cIn the old world, companies would be training people using static, long-form content or passive videos that we\u2019d all watch at 4x-5x speed, just to get the thing done,\u201d said Puri. \u201cBut that doesn\u2019t actually mean you\u2019ve learned it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Companies including Google, Snowflake, Databricks, RingCentral, and Sandler Sales use Yoodli for employee or partner training. The startup also sells its platform to coaching firms such as Franklin Covey and LHH, which can tailor the system to their own methodology and training frameworks, Puri stated. He added that the tool is not designed to replace human coaches but to keep a human in the loop delivering personalized guidance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI philosophically believe that AI can get you, let\u2019s call it from a zero to an eight or a zero to nine,\u201d said Puri. \u201cBut the pure essence of who you are and how you show up, and your authenticity and vulnerability that a human gives you feedback on will always exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

The platform works with multiple large language models, meaning users can run it with models such as Google\u2019s Gemini or OpenAI\u2019s GPT based on their preference. Enterprises can also embed it into their existing software, or users can access it directly through a web browser. The AI supports most major languages, including Korean, Japanese, French, Canadian French, and a list of Indian languages.<\/p>\n

Yoodli does not offer a dedicated mobile app, a decision Puri said was made to avoid adding extra steps for users during training sessions.<\/p>\n

\"Yoodli Yoodli\u2019s teamImage Credits:Yoodli <\/p>\n

Puri did not disclose how many people use the platform but said most of Yoodli\u2019s revenue now comes from enterprise customers. He added that between the Series A and B rounds, Yoodli saw a 50% increase in the number of role-plays run on the platform and in the total time users spent practicing. The startup also said it grew its average recurring revenue by 900% over the last 12 months, though it did not provide specific figures.<\/p>\n

Yoodli had not planned to raise more funding so soon after its last round but saw unanticipated investor interest, with WestBridge leading the latest raise, Puri said. He noted that strong performance metrics, key customers, and senior hires helped attract investors. The startup has recently hired former Tableau and Salesforce executive Josh Vitello as chief revenue officer (CRO), former Remitly CFO Andy Larson as CFO, and former Tableau chief product officer (CPO) Padmashree Koneti as CPO.<\/p>\n

Yoodli is not alone in the market for AI-based communication tools, but Puri told TechCrunch the startup differentiates itself through deep customization and a focus on specific training verticals, allowing companies to tailor the system to their use cases and coaching methods.<\/p>\n

The Seattle-headquartered startup has about 40 employees. Puri said the latest funding will be used to expand Yoodli\u2019s AI coaching, analytics, and personalization tools, and to grow its presence in enterprise learning and professional development. The company also plans to hire across product, AI research, and customer success, and to expand into markets in the Asia-Pacific region while deepening its footprint in the U.S.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Image Credits:Yoodli Yoodli, an AI-powered communication training startup, has reached a valuation of more than $300 million \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177588,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[220,218,219,96943,61,60,96945,96942,96944,80,96941,96894],"class_list":{"0":"post-177587","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-enterprise-training","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-leadership-coaching","15":"tag-management-coaching","16":"tag-partner-training","17":"tag-technology","18":"tag-varun-puri","19":"tag-westbridge-capital"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177587\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}