At a Glance
- Hupo has raised a $10 million Series A led by DST Global Partners to scale AI-powered sales coaching for banks, insurers, and financial-services firms.
- The Singapore-headquartered company already serves dozens of customers across APAC and Europe, including Prudential, AXA, Manulife, HSBC, Bank of Ireland, and Grab.
- Contracts with clients typically expand 3-8× within the first six months, according to co-founder and CEO Justin Kim.
- Why it matters: Banks and insurers struggle to give every salesperson consistent, real-time guidance; Hupo’s AI listens to live calls and offers instant, compliant coaching that managers can’t personally deliver at scale.
Hupo began life four years ago as Ami, a mental-wellness platform focused on how people manage pressure, build habits, and change behavior. Co-founder and CEO Justin Kim-an avid follower of basketball, Formula One, and MMA-said his obsession with performance patterns in sport inspired him to explore what drives peak performance at work.
“I’ve always been a big sports fan… what draws me to all of them is performance,” Kim told News Of Philadelphia. “People are very different, but across sports, there are clear patterns in how performance shows up.”
That curiosity led him to zero in on mental resilience as the common thread in workplace performance. In 2022 he launched the startup that would become Hupo, initially backed by Meta in its seed round.
Working with Meta taught Kim two hard rules:
- Software only works when it fits into how people already live and work.
- Tools meant to “improve” people fail if they feel judgmental, abstract, or disconnected from real work.
Those lessons survived the company’s pivot from wellness to sales coaching. Today they shape how Hupo’s AI supports bankers and insurance agents in the moments that matter most.
From Wellness to Winning Deals
Kim argues the shift was logical. “The core problem in both cases is performance at scale. In banking and insurance, results vary, not because of motivation, but because training, feedback, and confidence differ. Traditional coaching can’t reach everyone, and managers can’t sit in on every conversation.”
AI that understands conversations in real time now fills that gap, giving every rep consistent guidance without adding headcount.
Funding and Footprint
The new $10 million Series A was led by DST Global Partners. Additional investors include:
- Collaborative Fund
- Goodwater Capital
- January Capital
- Strong Ventures
The round brings total funding to $15 million since the company’s 2022 founding.
Hupo plans to use the capital to:
- Expand real-time coaching features
- Scale enterprise-grade deployments
- Grow go-to-market teams in banking, financial services, and insurance
- Hire across product, engineering, and customer success
Customer Momentum
Headquartered in Singapore, Hupo already counts dozens of customers in APAC and Europe. Named clients include:
| Region | Clients |
|---|---|
| APAC | Prudential, AXA, Manulife, HSBC, Grab |
| Europe | Bank of Ireland |
Kim claims BFSI is “a notoriously difficult vertical for early-stage companies,” yet Hupo’s contracts typically expand 3-8× within six months.
US Expansion Next
“We’ll be expanding into the US in the first half of this year, where distribution-heavy financial models create a strong need for scalable coaching,” Kim said.
Why Hupo Thinks It Wins
Most AI sales-coaching tools start with the technology, Kim argues. Hupo started with the business:
- Models trained from day one on real financial products, common objections, client types, and regulatory language
- Workflows mapped to how banks and insurers already operate
- Compliance guardrails baked in for highly regulated conversations
Kim’s background supports that claim. He began his career at Bloomberg, selling enterprise software to banks, asset managers, and insurers. He later joined South Korean fintech Viva Republica (parent of Toss) to work on product development, learning how tech grounded in real user behavior can reshape traditional finance.
“Hupo sits at the intersection of those experiences,” Kim said. “I understood the buyer, the end user, and the operational reality of selling financial products. Once AI became capable of understanding context and coaching in real time, it became obvious to me that sales coaching-especially in banking and insurance-was the right place to apply it.”
Long-Term Vision
Within five years Kim wants Hupo to move beyond sales coaching and help large teams perform at scale, giving managers and employees clearer insights and practical guidance across tens of thousands of people.
Key Takeaways
- Hupo’s pivot from wellness to finance-specific sales coaching landed it $10 million in fresh funding.
- Early clients include global insurers and banks, with contracts swelling 3-8× within months.
- Real-time, compliant AI coaching addresses a gap managers can’t fill in heavily regulated sales environments.
- A US launch is slated for the first half of 2024, targeting distribution-heavy financial firms.
