Adding someone to your professional network is as easy as clicking a button. But how many of those people get lost in the abyss of LinkedIn connections or in endless feeds of content?
Goodword, a new professional networking startup, says it can help people maintain those relationships using AI.
“We’re more digitally connected than ever before, but we still have the same constraints of the human brain,” Goodword CEO Caroline Dell told Business Insider.
Goodword is leveraging AI to build tools that encourage closer connections, including a search function, reminders for follow-up conversations, and a method of making introductions. The startup describes its product as a “networking copilot” and has an AI assistant that users can chat with to keep track of meetings and people they meet. The platform is built using large language models from OpenAI, chief product and technology officer Chris Fischer said.
Goodword isn’t necessarily looking to take on LinkedIn head-on as the next giant professional network. LinkedIn, in Fischer’s words, is the “world’s most important professional stage” and a “content machine,” but Goodword aims to solve a different problem.
“We’re not trying to build a networking app, per se, that’s helping you network more and more,” he said. “We’re building something that allows you to spend time with the right people and build deeper relationships.”
Dell, who was an early employee at Chief, an executive networking organization for women, teamed up with Fischer, who has worked at several startups, in 2024. In October, the startup released the beta version of its product and announced it raised a $4 million seed investment round led by Human Ventures, with participation from January Ventures, Bain’s Future Back Ventures, and angels like Andrew Yeung and Chief’s cofounders.
Goodword’s recent funding will be used to develop its product, add more data integrations, cover the costs of large-language models, and expand its research and development team. The startup is based in New York and has a team of five full-time staffers and three contractors.
The product costs about $200 for an annual subscription, and offers a free trial. Fischer said the startup plans to introduce a monthly membership, but wants its early users to commit to a year, as the team works closely with them on developing the product.
Goodword’s tech integrates users’ LinkedIn networks, calendars, and email, and plans to add integrations for other tools people use regularly, like note-taking apps.
While Goodword automates some of the networking steps for its users, Fischer emphasized that Goodword is not an AI agent tool that replaces the networking experience.
“One of our differentiators is actually keeping the human at the center,” Dell said.
Professional networking has been a hot category, and new startups are attempting to disrupt the status quo with the help of AI. Other startups, including Boardy, an AI agent that makes introductions, and Gigi, an AI-powered professional networking platform, have raised millions from investors.
Read the pitch deck Goodword used to raise its $4 million seed investment:
Note: Some slides and details of the deck have been either updated or redacted by Goodword in order to share the document publicly.
Goodword pitches itself as a platform that goes ‘beyond networking’
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The deck starts by outlining a problem in professional networking
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Goodword’s deck dives into data points
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Then the startup maps out the market of social apps
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Goodword outlines the opportunity for the space
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While it’s an AI startup, Goodword emphasizes ‘human relationships’
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Next, the deck introduces the cofounders
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Then it showcases how the product works
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The deck wraps up with a quote from an anthropologist
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As well as a link to sign up for early access
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