SalesTechStar Interview with Dorian Ciavarella, Founder and CEO at Zeliq

Dorian Ciavarella, Founder and CEO at Zeliq chats about the pointers sales leaders should consider when infusing their salestech stack with AI-powered tools while taking us through Zeliq’s journey and new funding:

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Hi Dorian, tell us about yourself and more about Zeliq. How has the platform evolved over the years?

I have always been passionate about building solutions to problems and I started several businesses before founding ZELIQ. My most successful previous venture was as a co-founder and CEO at Hivency, a social platform that connects influencers with brands. Hivency achieved +5M€ ARR in less than five years and was eventually acquired by Skeepers.

I went on to work as the SVP Europe at Skeepers.  I began to notice how many companies struggled to manage their sales leads, and this led me to create ZELIQ, an all-in-one sales solution powered by AI. The salestech industry is evolving rapidly, in no small part driven by the proliferation of AI, and I believe ZELIQ has the potential to become the number one player in the market.

ZELIQ was founded in January 2023 and raised $5.4million in just two weeks. In the first quarter, we focused on hiring, finding names, and conducting research and development. We launched the platform in June 2023 and received massive traction from the get go.

We’ve since continued to develop the product and find our product market fit. In November 2023 we launched our product on Product hunt and was awarded with product of the day & week and received over 1000 sign ups in one week. We just raised $10 million in our latest round of funding and are continuing to sign clients everyday.

We’d love to hear about your latest funding; challenges around it and how the new funding will enable future and near-term goals?

Everyone knows since the economic downturn early 2023, it hasn’t been easy for most startups looking for funding.

I was at a crossroads of whether to do a roadshow as it can distract from company development. However with over 50 venture capitalists already expressing interest, I decide to try out another route.

We were lucky to have our existing investor Resonance VC reinvest in our latest round and we managed to get Exor on board as our leading investor.

I truly believe that the market needs a product like ZELIQ, and am confident that, with an amazing team behind me, we can achieve global success.

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What about today’s state of AI In salestech piques your interest most? Can you talk about some of the most innovative AI enhancements across sales and marketing that you’ve been following closely?

What excites me most about AI in salestech is its ability to increase the outreach response rate. AI can analyse communication patterns and digital footprints to create detailed personality profiles of prospects and customers. This level of insight allows sales and marketing teams to tailor their strategies and communications more effectively, which drives higher engagement and conversion rates.

For instance, AI can suggest personalised email content based on the recipient’s personality, ensuring the tone and message resonates. In strategy generation, understanding the personality traits of key decision-makers helps tailor pitches and value propositions to align with their preferences and styles.

What are some of the top misconceptions surrounding AI in sales and salestech that you’d like to dispel here?

The fact that AI can do EVERYTHING. I want to stress that ZELIQ’s mission is to act as co-pilot for the revenue team (sales and marketing) and not to replace them. In the future, as the role of sales and marketing evolves, everyone will need ZELIQ.

Sales is about human interaction and networking. AI can help you to a large extent but nothing can replace human connection (for now). Hence our goal is to help them to prospect better, save them time so they can focus on actually selling and eventually close more deals and increase profits.

Before we wrap up, please share five fundamentals you’d tell sellers to keep in mind when they implement new AI powered salestech within their sales tech stack?

1. Define clear goals:
   • Understand your objectives (e.g., lead generation, customer engagement) so you can select the right AI tools and measure their success.
2. Ensure data quality:
   • Maintain clean, accurate and comprehensive datasets so your AI systems can function effectively.
3. Leverage personalisation:
   • Use AI insights to tailor your messaging and interactions for better engagement and conversions.
4. Integrate seamlessly:
   • Ensure new AI tools integrate smoothly with your existing sales tech stack for efficient workflows.
5. Invest in training:
   • Provide ongoing training and be ready to adapt your strategy based on AI insights and evolving market conditions.

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