Level AI Raises $13M Series A for Conversational Intelligence

Level AI Secures $13 Million to Enhance Customer Service Interactions

Level AI, a startup founded by a former Alexa product team member, is focused on accelerating customer service call processing. Their solution aims to provide real-time understanding of customer interactions.

Series A Funding and Company Growth

The company has officially launched to the public and announced a $13 million Series A funding round. This round was led by Battery Ventures, with participation from existing seed investors Eniac and Village Global, alongside contributions from undisclosed angel investors.

Battery’s Neeraj Agrawal will join Level AI’s board of directors as part of the investment agreement. To date, the company has raised a total of $15 million, including a prior $2 million seed round.

Origins in Conversational AI Research

Ashish Nagar, the founder of Level AI, previously led product development for the Amazon Alexa team. His work involved exploring the possibility of enabling Alexa to engage in prolonged, human-like conversations.

Although fully achieving this goal proved technologically challenging at the time, the experience provided Nagar with valuable insights into conversational AI. He subsequently launched Level AI in 2019 to apply this knowledge to the customer service sector.

How Level AI Improves Agent Performance

“Our product empowers agents to perform more effectively in real time, leading to quicker resolution of customer issues and improved clarity,” Nagar explained. “Furthermore, it significantly accelerates the quality assurance and training audit processes for call reviewers.”

The Level AI solution encompasses several key processes. Initially, it analyzes the conversation in real time, segmenting it into comprehensible units. This information is then utilized to provide agents with relevant resources via automated workflows.

Data-Driven Insights for Business Improvement

Finally, the collected conversational data is leveraged to provide companies with valuable insights for agent training and broader business improvements, such as product development.

“We now have access to a wealth of data from calls, emails, and chats,” Nagar stated. “This allows us to analyze interactions from a new perspective, enhancing agent training and providing insights to teams like product managers.”

Beyond Sentiment Analysis: True Language Understanding

Nagar emphasizes that their approach goes beyond simple sentiment analysis or keyword analysis. The system strives for a genuine understanding of the language used in the interaction.

This involves modeling intent, maintaining memory of the conversation, and processing multiple aspects simultaneously – mirroring human interaction. This is the core principle behind their conversational AI efforts.

Evolution of the Company's Focus

Founded in 2018, the initial concept was to develop voice assistants for front-line workers. However, customer feedback indicated a stronger need for tools that augment human workers, particularly in customer service.

This led to a shift in focus, and the first version of the product was launched in March 2020. Currently, Level AI employs 27 individuals across the U.S. and India. Nagar prioritizes remote work to attract top talent and foster diversity.

Investor Perspective on Real-Time Assistance

Neeraj Agrawal, the lead investor, believes the company is addressing a critical need: delivering the right information to agents at the moment it’s needed. “The system is designed with real-time assistance in mind, which is the ultimate goal for customer service agents.”

He added that providing information after a call concludes is helpful, but the true value lies in delivering it during the interaction, where it can have the greatest impact.

Future Outlook and Continued Focus

While acknowledging the potential for expanding into areas like sales, Nagar intends to maintain the company’s focus on customer service for the foreseeable future.