Virtual coaching platform has right Mindset for multimillion-pound fundraising

An AI start-up which helps businesses turn their expertise into an interactive digital coach is raising millions of pounds to help it expand into the US.

Sky News understands that Mindset AI, which describes itself as an embedded AI agent platform, has secured £4.3m in a funding round jointly led by Edge VC and Pembroke VCT. Existing investors also participated in the raise, which will be announced later this week.

The round takes the total sum raised by Mindset AI to just over £8m. The business was founded in 2019 by the executive team - including CEO Barrie Hadfield - that previously built and exited Workshare, a secure file-sharing software service.

Mindset AI says it allows companies to create user-friendly AI agents which chat using natural language - and claims one of its clients has seen course enrolments increase tenfold within three weeks of launching a search and recommendation agent. Some forecasts suggest that the AI agent market is likely to grow from $5.1bn in revenue in 2024 to $47.1bn by 2030 - a compound annual growth rate of 44.8%.

Mindset AI's new financial backing will support the development of its natural language programming interface and fund the opening of an office in Chicago. "As AI evolves, so does the gap between businesses adopting it and those being left behind," Mr Hadfield said.

"AI talent is in short supply, and costs are high. "Companies need solutions that let them deploy AI agents without heavy investment in AI teams or long development cycles." The company says its AI agents are now deployed in more than 2,700 companies as learning tutors, HR service delivery agents, and to facilitate customer support activities.

"Mindset AI is redefining how learning and development businesses present and monetise their content through AI-powered conversational agents." Fred Ursell, investment director of Pembroke Investment Managers, said. Mountside Ventures advised Mindset AI on the round..