PolyAI, a leading global provider of enterprise voice assistants, has raised $50 million in a Series C round of funding. The round is backed by new investors Hedosophia, Nvidia’s NVentures and Zendesk, with follow-on investments from Khosla Ventures, Georgian, Point72 Ventures, Sands Capital and Passion Capital. With this raise, PolyAI has now secured over $120 million in funding to continue redefining what’s possible with voice-first, AI-powered automation in enterprise contact centers.
The company spun out of Cambridge University’s preeminent Machine Intelligence Lab in 2017, and serves close to 100 enterprise customers including FedEx, PG&E, Caesars, Marriott, Unicredit and other Fortune 500 companies. In the past year, a PolyAI enterprise customer launched one of the world’s first voice assistants to be fully powered by generative AI, now used by millions of consumers. With another global brand, PolyAI released the world’s most multilingual enterprise assistant, speaking 12 languages. PolyAI has grown 10x over the last two years, with US companies representing over 70% of their revenue.
Customer sentiment runs high: “I was extremely impressed with PolyAI’s intuitive and natural conversational abilities and the impact it will have on customer experience,” said Pavan Kapur, who partnered with PolyAI while Chief Commercial Officer at Caesars Entertainment. “As a customer-obsessed leader, I am excited to see PolyAI continue to innovate for businesses and customers alike.”
Reacting to the funding, PolyAI CEO and Co-Founder Nikola Mrkšić stated, “Anyone who has ever picked up the phone to get support from their favorite brands has experienced the frustration of dealing with bad customer service. Our mission is to make every company the best version of itself in every customer interaction. This raise is a testament to the work we’ve put in to make that mission a reality.” Of the company’s intention for the funds, Mrkšić stated: “We aim to be the voice that handles – and handles well – over half of all automated customer service calls within the next five years.”
The up round indicates VCs are sharing this enthusiastic vision. “We are experiencing a Cambrian explosion in AI that will impact every industry,” said Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures. “We bet early on PolyAI and the team as a category creator for AI-powered, voice-based customer support, and are thrilled to continue supporting them in making customer service the top brand experience for any company.”
Source: PRNewsWire
