Focal, an AI-powered productivity platform, announced it has raised a $5 million seed round.
Distributed Ventures and Wischoff Ventures led the round for the wealthtech firm, which offers AI note-taking and other features.
The new resources will be used to develop additional meeting automation, performance coaching and back-office workflow features for advisors, who have been the platform’s client base since its launch a year ago.
Focal will also, according to a prepared statement, use the capital to help expand its enterprise adoption “through automations that securely self-manage workflows across any advisor tool or back-office system, with or without an API.”
In addition to AI-driven meeting prep, meeting note-taking, and follow-up, Focal helps power various workflow automations, deliver client insights and provide CRM syncing. (It has integrations with major CRM providers, including Salesforce and a couple of its popular advisor overlays, as well as Redtail and Wealthbox.)
Among the other areas of automation Focal provides are what it calls performance coaching, onboarding and KYC workflow support.
It is also an approved Schwab provider that integrates with the custodial platform.
The company’s C-suite includes founder and CEO John Connell and Jerry Bai, who leads product and has held product management leadership roles at Microsoft, Yelp, and, most recently, blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis. Focal Chief Technology Officer Clay Stupi, also a Chainalysis alum and engineer, was also an engineer at Docusign.
