When George Avetisov was the founder and CEO of cybersecurity startup HYPR, he spent a lot of time in the field with the company's sales team. He quickly realized that no matter how good his sales team was, they were always pulling other departments to answer customer questions or fill out technical surveys.
“They don't know the answers to most of the questions that are asked,” Avetisov told TechCrunch. “You have to ask product people, you have to hire sales engineers, etc. It’s a daunting task, and like I’ve worked with great salespeople over the years. They're great, but the problem with sales is there's no easy way for them to automate their knowledge.”
Avetisov (pictured above, center) decided that was the next problem to solve. He left HYPR in 2021 and briefly worked at a startup where he won playing the video game Elden Ring. Avetisov said he wanted some downtime before it was all consumed by another startup. He launched a new company, 1up, in 2022.
1up is an AI-powered knowledge automation platform for sales teams that pulls information from internal data sources and databases. Sales reps can also use 1up to find answers to product and technical questions, execute requests for proposals, and fill out technical surveys.
The company went public in January 2024 and has since acquired nearly 100 customers, ranging from startups to large enterprise customers, including WalkMe and Deliveroo. The company was able to capture a significant portion of these customers through an unconventional marketing strategy called memes.
“We run one of the largest sales meme libraries in the community, with millions of impressions on LinkedIn,” Abetisov says. “People follow us just because of the memes. I know it's a little weird, but one in three leads comes from a meme.”
Now, the company announced a $5 million funding round led by Upfront Ventures with participation from individuals including RRE Ventures, 8-Bit Capital, and Friendster founder Jonathan Abrams. Coby Fuller, Upfront's general partner, is the lead investor and will serve on the company's board of directors.
Fuller told TechCrunch that one of his portfolio companies could help 1up fit into his investment thesis about how AI will change the way companies approach knowledge. A few days after the mention, she said she received a cold email from Mr. Avetisov. When speaking to Avetisov about this paper, Fuller said they were speaking exactly the same language.
“A lot of how we make investment decisions relies on our founders, and as a second-time founder, George saw the problems and pain points firsthand,” Fuller said. “When we talk to George, he's able to dive into any level or depth of the house that you don't always get to see with CEOs. You can tell he's driven by a sense of mission. You can tell by the 1up tattoo on his face that he takes it really seriously. He's incredibly violent.”
Since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, there has been an explosion of AI startups building for sales departments. This is especially true in building AI tools to help customers generate sales leads and engage with customers. Companies looking to provide knowledge centers for businesses have also begun to gain traction, with many emerging by 2022.
But Avetisov is undaunted. He said the services offered by 1up are so different from AI sales lead generators that it's hard to imagine 1up competing in the same line within a company's budget. He said he doesn't think companies need comprehensive knowledge centers, but 1up's approach is different because it solves a specific problem.
“When you talk to companies, knowledge management is not a budget item. It's a tricky issue,” Avetisov said. “Our philosophy on this is that for knowledge automation to be successful and become a billion-dollar company or industry, there has to be a radical focus on personas and departments.”
Having recently raised funding, 1up's next step is to scale its sales team. Some feature upgrades are also planned, but Avetisov isn't ready to share the details yet.
“Sales teams suffer,” Avetisov says. “They have one of the most difficult jobs in the company, and their toolset is terrible. They have a lot of tools for prospecting, CRM, etc., but when it comes to knowledge management, It has been ignored. That is our passionate view. That is our laser focus.”