A new professional networking platform powered by artificial intelligence technology has received a substantial investment to further develop its innovative approach. Boardy, a startup that facilitates connections between users through an AI-based voice assistant, recently closed a $3 million pre-seed funding round.
Founded earlier this year by CEO Andrew D’Souza and his co-founders Matt Stein, Shen Sivananthan, Ankur Boved and Abhinav Boved, Boardy aims to tackle the growing problem of isolation through human-AI collaboration. The simple premise allows users to speak with Boardy, an AI named after the company, and provide details about their professional goals, interests and needs. Boardy then scans its network – which initially comprised the founders’ own contacts but has expanded – to search for potential matches that could help.
If a beneficial introduction is identified, Boardy will work to set up an introductory call or email exchange between the two parties, but only with their mutual consent. Users can check in regularly with Boardy to receive new connection suggestions as their circumstances change. This facilitates serendipitous professional matches while relying on AI to do the behind-the-scenes legwork of searching networks and qualifying potential opportunities in a safe, transparent manner.
Studies show loneliness has reached epidemic levels in many Western nations, and some fear AI could exacerbate social isolation. However, Boardy takes a different approach by using AI to augment human networking abilities and bring professionals together who may not otherwise cross paths. With the new funding, the team plans to further develop Boardy’s conversational abilities and network size to better serve users.
The $3 million pre-seed round was led by HF0 with participation from 8VC, Precursor Ventures, Afore Capital, FJ Labs and NextView Ventures. This marks an encouraging early vote of confidence for the AI networking model from investors who previously backed D’Souza and his co-founders’ e-commerce experience. It represents one of the largest pre-seed investments in an AI-focused professional networking startup to date.
