Montreal-based FrontlineIQ has officially emerged from stealth with an oversubscribed $3.3 million seed round to bring AI-powered sales coaching to millions of in-person sales professionals across North America. The funding round was led by AQC Capital, with participation from strategic investors across the retail, automotive, and financial services sectors.
Founded less than a year ago, FrontlineIQ has already achieved notable traction with major brands including Ashley HomeStore, Sleep Country, Dufresne Furniture & Appliances, Hyundai, and Porsche. Ashley piloted the platform in 2024 and, following strong adoption and engagement, expanded it nationally—resulting in double-digit sales growth and improved employee retention. Building on that success, additional enterprise rollouts are planned for 2025, and demand has grown so rapidly that the company now has a waitlist extending into 2026.
FrontlineIQ is led by CEO Ben Rodier, a veteran sales technology entrepreneur and former Co-Founder of Salesfloor. Rodier has more than 15 years of experience building enterprise sales software and leading teams that redefine the relationship between sales enablement and technology. He has assembled a team of experienced operators with proven records of scaling companies from inception to acquisition, all united around a mission to elevate frontline sales performance through AI.
FrontlineIQ’s core product centers around “Theo,” an AI sales coach that serves as both a mobile assistant for sellers and a data-driven performance platform for managers. Designed for Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and field sales environments, Theo delivers personalized goals, real-time feedback, and actionable insights that improve sales performance and team development. Unlike traditional AI sales tools designed for Business-to-Business (B2B) teams, FrontlineIQ focuses on the human-to-human sales settings where coaching has historically been inconsistent or underresourced.
The platform directly addresses what Rodier refers to as a “coaching crisis,” which is the issue of having too many salespeople per manager and a lack of effective feedback loops. FrontlineIQ aims to make every sales manager a “super-coach” capable of delivering consistent, data-backed guidance to every team member. Early customers have reported measurable impact: up to 86% weekly active usage, an 11% increase in sales per customer, and a 250% improvement in performance among goal-achieving consultants compared to peers.
With its new capital, FrontlineIQ plans to expand engineering, sales, and marketing teams across Canada and the U.S., accelerate product development based on customer feedback, and scale adoption among enterprise retail and automotive clients. The company is actively hiring across multiple departments as it continues its rollout in North America.
FrontlineIQ was developed within UP.Labs’ Retail & Supply Chain Management Venture Lab, a program built in partnership with The Dufresne Group. The lab operates alongside other UP.Labs ventures in Mobility and Logistics, created with innovation teams from Alaska Airlines, Porsche, and Wabash.
KEY QUOTES:
“AI has already revolutionized digital sales, but millions of people selling in-person or on showroom floors have been left behind. We’re building the first AI coach for in-person sales teams—designed to scale coaching across millions of sellers and give every manager the support they need to succeed. This funding allows us to accelerate delivery and bring our solution to more industries where human-to-human sales still matter most.”
Ben Rodier, CEO of FrontlineIQ
“FrontineIQ is now part of our coaching DNA. With FrontlineIQ’s real-time insights and coaching tools, our leaders can change the story while it’s still being written. We’re not just hitting performance goals—we’re building on a strong culture of coaching that keeps our teams engaged and consistently improving.”
Kevin Hook, President of The Dufresne Group’s Ashley Stores
