What’s AI good for? Automating repetitive duties for the very busy folks operating small companies, reckons Berlin-based startup Synthflow, which is saying a $7.4 million seed spherical for its SME-focused no code platform for AI voice help.
Since being based round spring final yr, the startup has now banked a complete of $9.1 million, underscoring ongoing investor enthusiasm for accelerating functions of generative AI.
The startup additionally claims to be approaching 1,000 clients — touting “double-digit” month-to-month progress charges because it stepped out of stealthy growth to launch its browser-based “no code” instrument in December 2023. That means there’s a wholesome urge for food amongst SMEs to undertake — or no less than experiment with — generative AI instruments that promise easy-to-reach productiveness beneficial properties.
The brand new funding might be ploughed into R&D, in response to Synthflow CEO and co-founder Hakob Astabatsyan, who says the group is eager to maintain stoking its early momentum by rising product utility and broadening the scope of SMEs to which it’s interesting.
“We’ve got very many concepts. We all know precisely what the shoppers want,” he tells TechCrunch.
Astabatsyan, a serial entrepreneur with a enterprise background, is ex-Rocket Web. Becoming a member of him in his newest enterprise are his brother, Albert, who additionally labored with him on a previous no code startup; and Sassun Mirzakhan-Saky, who brings a software program engineering background and CTO experience to the group.
Whereas Synthflow’s product kicked off with English-language name dealing with as a result of its largest markets are English-speaking, it has since added German and French language variations (be aware: these are nonetheless in beta). So dialing up its give attention to the latter markets in Europe can be on the playing cards.
Finish-to-end expertise
Call centers had been early adopters of AI voice brokers, pulling on giant language fashions’ (LLMs) APIs to energy programs that might reply cellphone calls in a human-like approach — simply with indefatigable power and enthusiasm 24/7, if not at all times flawless comprehension.
Synthflow is taking the idea in a barely completely different path, focusing on service industry-focused SMEs immediately, together with these in direction of the smaller finish of the class with a DIY “no code” providing. The objective is to supply SMEs an “end-to-end” expertise, per Astabatsyan, who argues that the return on funding from with the ability to automate core duties like appointment scheduling might be instantly apparent to its goal resource-strapped companies.
“The AI can do it in a extra inexpensive method, extra reliably, and people can do different stuff,” is his concise pitch for voice help.
He offers the instance of a handyman or mechanic who would usually reply the cellphone themselves when not engaged on a job — that means they inevitably find yourself lacking a whole lot of calls and shedding out on some enterprise consequently; or a dentist who employs a receptionist who works restricted hours so, once more, isn’t at all times round to select up the cellphone.
Having a instrument that may deal with primary buyer enquiries could possibly be a gamechanger for small companies, Astabatsyan argues.
Synthflow’s goal being SMEs essentially means a core focus for the startup is making AI expertise accessible to non-technical customers — which is why it’s constructed a no code interface for its clients to design voice brokers that match the wants of their companies.
“We needed to attempt to construct one thing easy,” he explains. “A no code layer on prime [of AI agents] in order that… enterprise homeowners, enterprise oriented folks, can go and mess around with this and get acquainted and discover the what LLMs can do for his or her companies.”
Synthflow’s interface lets clients drag and drop components to configure voice AIs that may carry out particular duties for them — equivalent to scheduling appointments; operating by way of FAQs; or performing “data extraction,” equivalent to acquiring private data from a possible buyer so a human can name them again.
“Let’s say if somebody has to name, and there’s a explicit set of inquiries to be requested and explicit items of knowledge to be collected — particularly static ones, equivalent to, tackle, residence, and many others — AI is excellent,” he argues.
The client can select to configure the AI assistant so it discloses it’s a robotic. “I believe it is rather good apply to reveal that it’s a digital assistant,” says Astabatsyan. “My private favorite opening is: ‘Good day. My identify is [so-and-so], proper now, all our strains are busy. I apologise for that. I’m the digital assistant right here at [the name of the business]. How can I show you how to?’.”
One other huge utility for voice AIs is recognizing when a name must be transferred to a human agent, in response to Astabatsyan. So, primarily, utilizing AI to filter inbound calls based mostly on complexity — with automation taking good care of the straightforward requests which then compounds the profit by releasing up human brokers to have extra time to spend on extra complicated buyer enquiries.
He stresses the objective isn’t to interchange human jobs however somewhat suggests AI might help SMEs be extra productive and environment friendly than they might in any other case be with their restricted assets.
For this reason, in addition to letting clients deploy voice brokers, Synthflow’s system is designed to care for post-call information entry duties too — including appointments to a calendar instrument as an illustration. Constructing out integrations with third-party software program is thus one other huge focus for the group.
“That is what the AI is so good at,” he argues. “As a result of it could possibly take this data [extracted from a call] and, let’s say, replace explicit fields particularly CRM — and if you happen to do these items at scale, on a whole lot or 1,000s of calls, abruptly we’re seeing this expertise benefit that we noticed [when businesses first adopted] computer systems.”
For the voice brokers, the startup is constructing on OpenAI’s GPT LLM but additionally incorporating its personal AI fashions on prime — which Astabatsyan says have been educated by itself information and fine-tuned to particular buyer use-cases.
He says it has additionally constructed its personal “voice orchestration layer” which converts the client’s speech into textual content that may then be fed to the AI mannequin as a immediate, returning an automatic reply that the system converts from textual content into speech the client hears as a synthesized voice on the opposite finish of the cellphone line.
For now, Synthflow is targeted on utilizing AI with inbound calls — which Astabatsyan suggests are the low hanging fruit for automation for resource-strapped companies. However he hints at extra subtle capabilities in growth, with R&D fuelled by the chunky seed spherical.
One factor he mentions they’re engaged on is a characteristic that can allow Synthflow’s voice AIs to carry out what he refers to as “reside actions” or “connections” — that means that in a name the AI would be capable to run a examine on reside stock in a warehouse. Or pull in one other different piece of requested information and “push it elsewhere,” as he places it.
He additionally sketches a situation the place task-focused AI voice programs would be capable to increase their utility collectively. They may hand off a name to different devoted voice AIs educated for various duties being requested by the client.
“The important thing right here is to have give attention to who your clients are. As a result of, relying for whom you might be constructing this, your product goes to be very, very, very completely different,” he provides.
One impression to contemplate is, if voice AIs and voice help programs reside as much as the productiveness hype — slickly delivering on the promise of effectively dealing with an entire layer of buyer enquiries, together with by expertly redirecting extra complicated stuff to the best system or human to take care of — it might find yourself that means the common SME discovers they’ve an terrible lot extra work than they’re capable of tackle.
“I believe that’s an attention-grabbing query for lots of managers and leaders to consider, proper?” he responds, discussing this situation. “Like, if there’s a lot capability — and productiveness will get unleashed — how can we channel this human assets in different sectors of the economic system? As a result of I believe this query just isn’t answered but, but it surely’s a really attention-grabbing query certainly.”
Synthflow’s seed funding is led by Singular, with participation from current investor Atlantic Labs and a lot of traders within the AI house, together with the founders of Krisp AI.
