PolyAI (see Pulse 2.0 profile here), a global provider of enterprise voice assistants, announced it has raised $50 million in a Series C round of funding. The funding round was 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 funding, 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 was spun out of Cambridge University’s preeminent Machine Intelligence Lab in 2017, and now the company serves nearly 100 enterprise customers, including FedEx, PG&E, Caesars, Marriott, Unicredit, and other Fortune 500 companies.
In the last 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 also released the world’s most multilingual enterprise assistant, speaking 12 languages. PolyAI has grown 10 times over the last two years, with US companies representing over 70% of their revenue.
PolyAI’s clients also include many large companies in logistics, banking, hospitality, home services, insurance, energy, retail, healthcare, manufacturing, and telecommunications, as well as organizations in the public sector.
KEY QUOTES:
“I was extremely impressed with PolyAI’s intuitive and natural conversational abilities and the impact it will have on customer experience. As a customer-obsessed leader, I am excited to see PolyAI continue to innovate for businesses and customers alike.”
– Pavan Kapur, who partnered with PolyAI while Chief Commercial Officer at Caesars Entertainment
“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.”
– PolyAI CEO and Co-Founder Nikola Mrkšić
“We are experiencing a Cambrian explosion in AI that will impact every industry. 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.”
– Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures
