Monaco exits stealth: an AI-native sales platform with human experts in the loop
A year after stepping away from venture, Sam Blond is back on the operator side with Monaco - a sales tech startup he co-founded with his brother, Brian Blond. They're joined by Abishek Viswanathan (ex-CPO at Apollo and Qualtrics) and Malay Desai (former SVP of Engineering at Clari). Monaco has raised $35 million across a $10 million seed and a $25 million Series A, led by Founders Fund with participation from Human Capital. Backers also include Patrick and John Collison, Garry Tan, and Neil Mehta.
The product has been in private beta and is now open to public beta. The goal is simple: take on early-stage sales work with AI agents - and have seasoned human sellers guide the system so it stays accurate and effective.
What Monaco actually does
Monaco targets seed and Series A companies that need pipeline without building a big sales org. It offers an AI-native CRM, a ZoomInfo-like prospecting database built from scratch, and agents that handle outreach sequences and follow-ups. There's a meeting notetaker to keep records tight. The promised outcome: less grunt work, more meetings booked.
In practice, Monaco builds a prospect list, identifies the right people inside target accounts, prioritizes who to contact first, runs the sequence, and books the meeting. As Sam puts it, "We can replace full workflows with agents."
The twist: humans in the loop
Monaco pairs its agents with experienced salespeople who monitor output, prevent hallucinations, and train the system to sell your product. Real people still run the actual customer meetings - no avatars. "Monaco does not have an agent pretending to be a sales rep trying to sell to the customer."
For founders and lean teams, that means you get the experience of veteran sellers without hiring them full-time, while the AI handles volume and process.
Market context and pricing
Today, Monaco's most direct competition for young companies is HubSpot, with Salesforce still the incumbent standard. Pricing is a flat fee and discounted during beta; full details aren't public yet.
The field is crowded. You've got AI CRMs and tools like Attio, Clay, and Conversion, plus agentic SDR products such as 11x, Artisan, and 1mind. Incumbents including Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, and ZoomInfo also ship their own AI features. Sam's take: current leaders were built in a different era, there's no clear "Cursor for sales" yet - and Monaco aims to claim that spot.
Why this matters to sales leaders
This model blends throughput with judgment. AI handles list building, sequencing, and follow-ups; pros handle nuance, qualification, and live conversations. If it works as pitched, you cut busywork, protect quality, and tighten time-to-pipeline.
- Spin up pipeline fast without building a full SDR org.
- Human QA reduces AI misfires - useful for complex or regulated sales.
- One system for CRM, data, and sequencing trims tool sprawl.
- Flat fee simplifies budgeting; beta pricing may lower your trial risk.
- Metrics to watch: meetings set, time-to-first-meeting, reply quality, percent of tasks needing human edits.
Team and culture
Monaco has about 40 employees and a sales-first vibe. The office sports WWII-style posters ("Save Startups," "Build the future with Monaco") and a gong that rings when the AI lands a meeting. The focus is clear: pipeline and booked conversations.
What to watch next
Public beta means the real test starts now. The big questions: Can the human layer scale? How accurate are the sequences across industries? And can Monaco beat incumbents on ROI for early-stage teams?
- Data coverage and freshness vs. your current source of truth.
- Quality controls: review queues, approval workflows, and audit trails.
- How the human experts train to your product and ICP.
- Integrations with email, calendars, and any existing CRM if you keep one.
- Privacy and security for customer data.
- Contract terms: flat fee structure, SLAs on meetings booked, and exit ramps.
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