In 2018, Forethought, a startup looking to put AI to work across customer service, won the TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield and soon after landed a
Steadfast Capital led the latest round with participation from existing investor NEA and new investors Sound Ventures and K9 Ventures along with individual investors including actress Gwyneth Paltrow and former NBA player Baron Davis. The company has now raised data from Crunchbase . And that was a big improvement over last year.
“In many ways, investors are making these gut decisions that they think are based on the company or the metrics or whatever, but oftentimes it’s based on their [idea] of what they think a founder should look like. And often if you don’t fit that mold, whether that’s because of your appearance, your skin color or your particular background, it can be tough because you’re battling these implicit judgment biases,” he said.
One of the outcomes he hopes for from his startup’s journey, is that his story inspires young people of color looking to start a company. “One of my hopes is that my personal story becomes one that can help the next generation of entrepreneurs see that there are examples of that,” he said.
Today, the company is up to 145 employees and with the new cash, Nicholas expects to reach around 250 by the end of next year. He recognizes the need for diversity, especially in a business that caters to customer service agents.
“We care about building an organization that is not only representative, but as you know, more diverse organizations lead to better decision making and just better products. Not to mention that when we think about the industry we serve, customer service…it’s global. It’s broad,” he said.
“So for the people we serve, it’s very important that the people building the technology, as well AI and things like that, it’s very important that we understand and are representative of the people we serve,” he said.
The company could move beyond customer service over time, with Nicholas saying the company is looking at adjacent areas like sales. With \)">65 million, the company can afford to put some R&D resources into other areas, while still contributing to AI research and refining and building on the current customer service focus.
Steadfast Capital led the latest round with participation from existing investor NEA and new investors Sound Ventures and K9 Ventures along with individual investors including actress Gwyneth Paltrow and former NBA player Baron Davis. The company has now raised