Artificial intelligence communications provider IntelePeer raised $140 million in growth funding and debt financing on Thursday to help businesses automate call centers.
The Florida-based company, which has an office in the Denver-metro area, created a self-service automation service for call centers using generative AI — a type of AI that can make images, text, videos and other new content. IntelePeer reports it has automated more than 600 million customer interactions for voice, messaging and digital channels since its inception in 2003.
IntelePeer said it will use the fresh capital to “reimagine” the call center customer experience with artificial intelligence and automation technology.
“We’ve successfully deployed many generative AI solutions for our customers,” CEO Frank Fawzi said. “This funding will enable us to continue growing our AI Agent portfolio.”
The company plans to invest in its product and development teams, and sales and marketing efforts, too.
IntelePeer opened a local office near the Denver Tech Center in 2014. The office, at 5975 S. Quebec St. in Centennial, has 60 employees across the company’s product, development, operations, customer success, marketing, human resources and information technology teams.
The recent growth round was co-led by Savant Growth LLC and VantagePoint Capital Partners. Vector Velocity, a subsidiary of Vector Capital, led the debt financing.
Many call centers are adopting AI technology to manage customer interactions, said Nick Ghoussaini, head of credit at Vector Capital.
“We look forward to leveraging our proven operating support and technology expertise to ensure IntelePeer is best positioned to capitalize on AI expansion opportunities,” he said in a statement.
Generative AI has been a favorite sector for venture capital investors in recent years. San Francisco-based OpenAI, the maker of chatbot and virtual assistant ChatGPT, is one of the most prominent examples and helped launch the AI boom.
Locally, several Colorado companies using AI have raised capital. Earlier this month, startup Quindar, which uses AI to automate spacecraft command, secured capital from Booz Allen Ventures, and Notable Systems pulled in $8.8 million to expand its AI-driven platform that makes data input less tedious. In June, Denver-based MagicSchool AI raised $17.9 million for its AI tools that help K-12 educators develop lesson plans, create quizzes and more.
The excitement around AI startups may be wearing off, though. According to PitchBook, seed funding for those startups has declined 76% since its peak in the third quarter of 2023.
