From left: Mark Hughes and Patrick Finlay. Image: Solidroad
Founded last year by Mark Hughes and Patrick Finlay, Dublin-based Solidroad raised $1.2m in a round backed by some big names in Irish tech earlier this month.
As artificial intelligence continues to get better and better at doing things, many routine human tasks at the workplace will be automated. But serial entrepreneur Mark Hughes says the more complex tasks, such as those performed by customer-facing teams, will still require human intervention.
“These employees will need quicker and more immersive training solutions,” says Hughes, who is the co-founder and CEO of our latest Start-up of the Week, Solidroad.
“We are moving beyond traditional instructor-led classroom learning and static LMS [learning management system] content, providing dynamic and engaging training experiences to onboard and upskill staff efficiently.”
Solidroad is an AI-powered training and assessment platform for customer-facing teams. Its tools allow sales and support staff to practice conversations with an AI customer and receive personalised feedback. Think of it as a flight simulator for customer-facing teams, aimed at the talent management and corporate training market.
How it started
Founded last year by Hughes and Patrick Finlay, Solidroad is based in Dublin. Hughes previously founded the now-acquired Gradguide, a recruitment and training platform aimed at students and recent graduates that connected them with mentors a few years ahead of them in their career to help them secure their first job.
“[At Gradguide] I witnessed the powerful impact of one-on-one coaching and mentoring, but scaling this human-to-human interaction became challenging as the company grew,” says Hughes, who was an early sales hire at Intercom – where he met Finlay.
Finlay is also a serial entrepreneur, having co-founded and led Y Combinator-backed no-code start-up Monaru. The former Intercom product engineer is now CTO of Solidroad.
“Recognising the advancements in generative AI, Patrick and I saw a tremendous opportunity to create an AI coach capable of delivering personalised training at scale,” Hughes says.
“Patrick and I met at Intercom, where I was part of the sales team and Patrick was a product engineer developing tools for sales teams using Intercom. Our combined experiences and insights led us to establish Solidroad together early last year.”
How it’s going
Using advanced speech-to-text AI models, the Solidroad platform can accurately transcribe spoken interactions and “understand the nuances” of conversations.
“By integrating these capabilities, we provide realistic and dynamic training scenarios for sales and support representatives, offering personalised feedback to help them improve their skills effectively.”
The goal, according to Hughes, is to build the next-generation talent management platform. “We envision Solidroad becoming the definitive tool for hiring, onboarding and training employees at scale, revolutionising how organisations develop and manage their talent.”
Earlier this month, the start-up raised $1.2m in a round backed by big names in Irish tech, including Wayflyer co-founder Jack Pierce, Voxpro co-founder Dan Kiely, Intercom co-founder Ciaran Lee, Anne Heraty of CPL, and former PayPal executive Louise Phelan.
Solidroad recently hired Alex Mooney as founding engineer and Jack Hussey as head of growth. Hughes and Finlay are now on the lookout for a founding designer to join the team as it readies itself to onboard new customers.
It helps that Solidroad is based in Dublin, which has a start-up scene that Hughes describes as thriving and continuously growing stronger.
“There is good access to capital for early-stage companies and an incredible talent pool that enables the creation of great companies here. Patrick and I are fortunate to have friends who are also building start-ups nearby, providing a valuable network for mutual support and advice.”
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