Yoodli, a start-up backed by Madrona Venture Group and the Allen Institute for AI (AI2), applies AI to life’s biggest stress: public speaking

SEATTLE – News Direct – Yoodli

Yoodli, a startup leveraging AI to help people develop the soft skills needed to confidently present and communicate, has opened early access to their beta product at www.yoodli.ai. The founding team of Varun Puri, Esha Joshi and Dr. Ehsan Hoque, alumni of GoogleX, Apple and the MIT Media Lab, bring their passion to a challenge that most people face every day. The Company also announces that it has already raised $ 1M in pre-seed financing from the Allen Institute for AI and Madrona Venture Group.

“A lot of us have struggled with public speaking and been the targets of poorly delivered presentations,” said Varun Puri, co-founder of Yoodli. “During my time in Silicon Valley, I met countless colleagues, often other immigrants, who did not receive the recognition they deserved because they struggled to communicate effectively. Our platform will be an amazing leveler for people to train and get real-time science-based feedback as well as friends and coaches.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the fear of public speaking affects 73% of people. However, we all need to talk in groups – remember awkward wedding toasts, boring classroom presentations, and endless team meetings? Numerous studies have suggested that oral communication is the number one skill that students find useful after graduation and yet is not taught directly in school.

Snapshot of the Yoodli platform

“As a female engineer in a male-dominated industry, I felt like I had to put even more effort into getting people to take me seriously,” said Esha Joshi, co-founder and CTO of Yoodli. “The nerves and doubts before a presentation can be overwhelming, and the feeling of successfully speaking in front of an audience is a huge confidence booster. Our platform takes you from the nerves to the confident personality you need to achieve your goals.

Puri previously led special projects for the president of Alphabet, then led operations in Africa for a GoogleX initiative that extends internet connectivity using invisible lasers. Joshi brings his expertise as an Apple Engineering Manager as well as his experience speaking at large gatherings such as the Grace Hopper Conference to Yoodli’s Mission. Dr Hoque, Co-Head of Rochester Human Computing Interaction Group and winner of the MIT 35 Innovators Under 35 Award, adds decades of research experience building AI interfaces to improve workforce skills. Her work has helped people with autism practice communication skills, doctors prepare for end-of-life conversations with patients with Parkinson’s disease, and patients with Parkinson’s disease detect their disease directly from their screens. ‘computer.

“We see a tremendous opportunity to use AI as a means to improve human social and cognitive skills,” said Matt Mcllwain, Managing Director of Madrona. “We love supporting exciting teams from day one and this team has the passion, technical and industrial experience that inspires us to come to work every day. And make presentations!

Yoodli is recruiting applied AI engineers, fullstack developers and a growth manager.

About Madrona Venture Group

Madrona (www.madrona.com) is a Seattle, WA-based venture capital firm. With over 25 years of investing in technology start-ups, the company has worked with the founders of Day One to help them build their business for the long haul. Madrona invests primarily in round table and Series A rounds across the IT spectrum and, in 2018, raised the first fund dedicated to initial investments in companies in the acceleration phase (Series B phases and VS). Madrona manages over $ 2 billion and was an early investor in companies like Amazon, Smartsheet, Isilon, Redfin, and Snowflake.

About the Allen Institute for AI (AI2)

AI2 was founded in 2014 with the sole purpose of conducting high impact research and engineering in the field of artificial intelligence, all for the common good. AI2 is the creation of Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, and is led by Dr. Oren Etzioni, a leading AI researcher. AI2 employs more than 100 leading researchers and engineers around the world. AI2 prides itself on the diversity and collaboration of its team and takes a results-oriented approach to the complex challenges of AI. Learn more about allenai.org.