Telli, a YC alum, raises pre-seed funding for its AI voice agents

Former Y Combinator startup telli is helping companies alleviate the bottleneck that occurs when a high-volume of customers try to, for example, book appointments. Its AI voice agents kick in and handle basic operations while handing off more-complex processes to human operators. The Berlin-based startup has now raised $3.6 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Berlin’s Cherry Ventures and Y Combinator. Telli says its AI voice agents can perform a number of tasks, including automated callbacks and even closing deals. The startup, which was founded by Seb Hapte-Selassie, Philipp Baumanns, and Finn zur Mühlen, has concentrated on making its agents blend into company operations. It’s now claiming to have reached revenue growth of more than 50% month over month and has processed close to a million phone calls (and all with only a six-person team) out of the Berlin office. Customers are spread across Germany, the U.K., Latin America, and the U.S. with plans for further expansion. C ... Read full article.