New High Alpha startup, Luster, offers AI-powered sales training
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Indianapolis-based venture studio High Alpha has launched its latest software startup: Luster Inc., which uses artificial intelligence to help salespeople sharpen their skills.
Right now, the company’s three co-founders are its only full-time employees. But the company also has 18 contract workers, and it’s gained some traction in its first few months of life. Luster was formed in January, operated in stealth mode until this week, and has already landed its first few paying customers, said CEO and co-founder Christina Brady.
“We’ve actually been able to build [our sales] pipeline really quick,” Brady said. “We got three customers to purchase an annualized agreement before they had even seen the product.”
Luster’s two other co-founders are Jodi Mesa of Denver, who serves as chief product officer, and Wes Craig of Indianapolis, who serves as head of business operations and customer success
Most of Luster’s contract workers are based in Indianapolis, Brady said.
Luster’s software platform offers an alternative to traditional sales training methods, including role-playing exercises with colleagues.
Role-playing is often ineffective, Brady said, because a salesperson’s role-playing partner might not be familiar with the customer or situation that the salesperson will encounter. Someone who has never interacted with that customer or situation won’t be able to anticipate the specific topics or challenges that might come up during the sales call.
In contrast, Brady said, Luster can integrate with a client’s existing tools—such as its customer resource management system and its phone call recording system—to gather the information to customize a sales training session for a particular salesperson. The technology can also identify a salesperson’s areas of weakness and create training sessions to address those weaknesses.
“It’s predicting where you’re about to step in mud and then allowing you to practice to avoid it,” Brady said.
For instance, Luster might identify that a salesperson needs to develop a better elevator pitch for cold calls with prospects; to more skillfully handle customer objections; or to create a stronger sense of urgency to close the sale.
The startup’s first few paying customers include Chicago-based ShipBob, which offers ecommerce logistics software; Australia-based Go1, which offers an online learning platform; and Austin, Texas-based Bazaarvoice, which offers an online retail marketing platform.
High Alpha is one of the threads that brought the three co-founders together. Before Luster, Craig worked at High Alpha as part of the team that discovers, refines, and launches new startups. Brady was familiar with High Alpha through her work at Chicago-based Sales Assembly, which helps venture-backed software firms develop their sales teams. Brady held leadership roles at Sales Assembly from 2020-2023, and High Alpha portfolio companies were among her clients.
Brady and Mesa met when both worked at Denver-based sales software firm Spekit Inc.
Luster has ben able to get off the ground with “some initial formation capital” from High Alpha, but an official with the venture studio declined to reveal the amount. Luster has not yet raised any additional capital, she said.