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

Image Credits: Telli

Former Y Combinator startup Telli has secured $3.6 million in pre-seed funding to expand its AI voice agent technology. The round was led by Berlin’s Cherry Ventures and Y Combinator.

Key Details:

• Founders: Seb Hapte-Selassie, Philipp Baumanns, and Finn zur Mühlen
• Headquarters: Berlin
• Team Size: 6 people
• Revenue Growth: 50% month over month
• Calls Processed: Nearly 1 million

Technology & Use Cases

Telli's AI voice agents are designed to:

• Handle high-volume customer interactions
• Perform automated callbacks
• Close deals
• Book appointments
• Prequalify leads
• Make product suggestions

The company uses voice cloning technology from ElevenLabs or Cartesian AI, with voices based on hired actors. For AI models, Telli switches between OpenAI, Claude, and others to provide optimal solutions.

Market Reach

Current customers are spread across:

• Germany
• United Kingdom
• Latin America
• United States

Founder Insight

CEO Finn zur Mühlen shared that the idea originated from their experience at German unicorn Enpal, where they witnessed firsthand the challenges of scaling customer service operations.

"We saw how difficult call automation for customer acquisition is and how difficult it is to manage performance," zur Mühlen told TechCrunch. "Our AI agents actually achieve outcomes like booking appointments and prequalifying leads."

Future Plans

The funding will support further expansion as Telli continues to develop its AI voice agent technology for global customer service applications.