London-based OpenFi, a conversational AI platform for lead generation and customer nurture, has closed a £500K pre-seed funding. The investment round was led by Bijan Morvaridi with additional investments from Fortune Green Capital Ltd and Foundation Ventures Ltd.
Funds utilisation
The funding will be used to expand the product team, build the second version of the platform, integrate with a UK financial institution, and work closely with the FCA on AI compliance.
Lead investor Bijan Morvaridi said: “Having worked in the restaurant business for years, I know how important personal service is. OpenFi’s technology is the first AI application I’ve experienced that felt human and personal, that’s why I am backing the company.”
Nick Katz, Founding Partner of Foundation Ventures, commented: “Having followed Sam’s previous company Lead. Pro from start-up to trade sale, I was impressed by his ability to find product-market fit, focus on customer needs, and generate revenue. This is why Foundation Ventures was keen to back his new play.”
What does OpenFi do?
In today’s highly competitive market, only 3% of leads generated from performance marketing convert, wasting valuable marketing dollars and losing potential customers. Businesses engaging customers through messaging solutions, however, reported a 58% increase in leads and a 34-fold increase in ROI. What’s more, customers are 2.4 times more likely to stay when businesses are quick to solve their problems.
This leaves many businesses in a catch-22 scenario: more attentive customer service teams could increase profits, but it’s prohibitively expensive to maintain around-the-clock customer service reps. This is why OpenFi is on a mission to empower and redefine customer conversations using AI.
What does the company do?
Founded by Sam Oliver, OpenFi’s mission is to empower and redefine customer conversations by delivering consistent, responsible, and outstanding conversational AI. Using conversational AI tools, customers can safely harness the power of GenAI to automate client interactions and set new standards of customised customer communication.
OpenFi’s SalesTalkAI generates human conversations over WhatsApp, email, and socials without having to hire more humans. Using natural language conversational AI, SalesTalkAI filters, qualifies, and nurtures leads, escalating those ripe for closing to their human coworkers. By enabling the human team to focus on high-value leads, SalesTalkAI efficiently scales sales and increases profit. SalesTalkAI can also communicate with existing customers to ensure high renewal conversion without the need to leverage the human team.
Sam Oliver, OpenFi CEO and Founder, stated: “This conversational AI technology enables companies to give a far more satisfying customer experience, at a higher profit margin. We’re creating a win-win-win situation for customers, companies, and our investors.”
What do we think about OpenFi?
With this funding, the London startup aims to expand its team, upgrade its platform, and ensure AI compliance. OpenFi’s AI, SalesTalkAI, automates client interactions across multiple channels, improving customer experience and business profitability while minimising the need for extensive human customer service teams.
