Y Combinator’s hottest startup Origami Agents raises $2M to enhance sales teams

Y Combinator-backed startup Origami Agents has secured $2 million in seed funding to develop AI research agents that enhance human sales teams’ capabilities, achieving $50,000 in monthly recurring revenue during its initial beta period.

Key developments: The San Francisco-based company, founded by 19-year-old Kenson Chung and co-founder Finn Mallery, is positioning itself as an AI-powered sales enablement platform that augments rather than replaces human sales representatives.

• The company’s AI agents automate time-consuming research tasks that typically take up to three hours of a sales representative’s daily workflow
• Unlike competitors such as 11x and Artisan, which focus on full sales automation, Origami Agents maintains that human interaction remains crucial for closing significant deals
• The startup has emerged as the fastest-growing company in Y Combinator’s current batch after just four months of operation

Early success stories: Property maintenance marketplace Stellar has demonstrated the effectiveness of Origami’s technology, experiencing significant growth and improved sales metrics.

• Stellar has grown its client base eight-fold in nine months, partially attributed to Origami’s technology
• The company reports outbound email close rates at four times the industry average
• Stellar’s CEO Matt Wetrich, a former Uber executive, was so impressed with the results that he became an angel investor in Origami

Technical capabilities: Origami’s AI system leverages comprehensive data analysis to identify and qualify potential customers with unprecedented precision.

• The platform analyzes product reviews, social media engagement, and other unstructured data to identify prospects at their peak buying intent
• The technology specifically targets companies that match ideal customer profiles while filtering out poor fits
• The solution is designed to be generalized, making it adaptable for various B2B verticals beyond its initial property management focus

Founders’ background: The founding team brings relevant expertise to address the challenges in B2B sales automation.

• Finn Mallery previously developed custom outbound solutions for numerous startups and worked on go-to-market strategy at Fizz
• Kenson Chung served as CTO at an enterprise sales platform before dropping out of University College London’s computer science program
• Their combined experience has shaped Origami’s approach to creating practical, human-centric AI solutions

Looking ahead: The role of AI in revolutionizing B2B sales operations shows significant promise while maintaining the importance of human interaction.

• The seed funding will support Origami’s expansion beyond property management and real estate into other B2B sectors
• Industry experts predict dramatic changes in the sales landscape over the next three years
• The company’s success suggests that AI’s most valuable contribution to sales may be in supporting rather than replacing human capabilities

Market implications: Origami’s rapid growth and unique approach to AI-assisted sales could establish a new paradigm for technology integration across business functions.

• The emphasis on human-AI collaboration rather than full automation may provide a blueprint for other industries grappling with AI integration
• The company’s success challenges the prevailing trend toward full sales automation, suggesting that hybrid approaches might be more effective
• Early results indicate that enhancing human capabilities with AI tools could yield better outcomes than pursuing complete automation