Revolutionizing Sales: How Nooks is Transforming Cold Calling with AI

The Challenge of Cold Calling

As a director of sales for a legal software company, Tony De Leon faced the tedious task of cold calling prospects, often only to reach their voicemails. This repetitive process involved extensive busywork, including finding numbers, researching prospects, and logging calls.

The AI Solution

Upon discovering the AI sales platform Nooks, Tony was able to automate many of these manual tasks such as finding contact details, leaving voicemails, and drafting emails. With the help of Nooks’ dialing assistant, he increased his daily conversations from two to ten, significantly enhancing his pipeline generation—a crucial process for converting prospects into customers. According to Nooks CEO Daniel Lee, "The sales pipeline is the lifeblood of a company."

Nooks’ Growth and Funding

Founded in 2020 by Stanford classmates Rohan Suri, Daniel Lee, and Nikhil Cheerla, Nooks recently announced it has raised $43 million in Series B funding led by Kleiner Perkins, bringing its total funding to $70 million and its valuation to $285 million. The startup has seen quadrupled revenue year on year, fueled by thousands of sales representatives from companies like Fivetran and Amplitude who utilize its AI tools.

A Strategic Pivot

Initially launched as a “virtual office” platform for remote collaboration, Nooks pivoted to focus on sales tools in 2022 after recognizing the needs of sales teams. Lee noted that this decision to focus on AI solutions for sales proved wise, especially as many companies in the original space have struggled.

Advanced AI Capabilities

Nooks’ platform leverages established AI models like OpenAI’s GPT and Google’s Gemini, trained on a dataset of 100 million anonymized sales conversations. In addition to automating tasks, it offers coaching tools for salespeople to practice calls and receive feedback, aiming to eliminate the inefficiencies caused by “tool bloat” in the sales process.

Competitive Landscape

Facing competition from major players like Salesforce and Microsoft, which are also developing AI-driven sales tools, Nooks is committed to enhancing its offerings. The new funding will help expand its team and improve features for lead generation, aiming to automate mundane tasks for approximately 3 million sales representatives in the U.S., allowing them to focus on the more strategic aspects of selling.

Investor Insights

Leigh Marie Braswell, a partner at Kleiner Perkins, emphasized that enterprises seek applications that boost productivity and revenue. She is optimistic that Nooks can deliver solutions that allow sales teams to dedicate more time to human-centered tasks like closing deals and building relationships.