The customer support industry has seen a massive influx of startups like Sierra, Decagon, and Parloa, all vying to integrate AI into automating customer calls, chats, and messages, enabling companies to handle queries at scale. However, Athens-based Omilia, which has been automating voice calls and customer support since 2002, argues that applying AI indiscriminately can be wasteful. CEO Dimitris Vassos notes that a significant portion of incoming customer support queries involve basic information, such as account balances, and deploying large language models for these tasks is often unnecessary.
“We will use any available weapon to win the battle for customer service. Companies like Sierra and Decagon identify as generative AI companies. Their sole purpose is to deploy generative AI and limit themselves. You may have a bazooka, but if your enemy is near you, you need a knife. This is the reality of the contact center, where you need multiple tools,” he said.
Omilia has expanded its operations to build self-learning agents that work across different customer contact points. To support this growth, the company has raised a $67 million Series B round led by Expedition Growth Capital. This marks Omilia's second funding round, following a $20 million investment from Grafton Capital in 2020. Since then, the company has increased its annual recurring revenue 10x to $60 million.
Vassos attributes Omilia's success to strong unit economics for both the company and its customers, which has reduced the need for large cash infusions compared to competitors. “In the next few years, we will see the companies that can offer real ROI prevail. We don't mind that we're not as sexy as ElevenLabs and Sierra on LinkedIn right now. We care about growing steadily and building the foundations for a billion-dollar revenue company in the next three years,” he said.
Omilia's client roster includes Capital One, Discover, RBC, DWP, and PSEG. Vassos highlighted quick-service restaurants (QSRs) with voice-based ordering as a key focus area. The company already counts Taco Bell as a client, with its technology deployed across more than 1,000 outlets, and is in talks with two more U.S. QSRs.
AI deployments can be hit or miss. In Taco Bell's case, a reported snafu in its ordering system allegedly allowed a customer to order 18,000 cups of water last year. Vassos maintains this incident never happened, citing Omilia's logs. TechCrunch has reached out to Taco Bell for clarification and will update the story if we hear back.
Omilia plans to use the fresh capital to open a new office in the U.S., a market that accounts for a significant portion of its revenue. It will also strengthen its go-to-market team, hiring a chief revenue officer, chief marketing officer, and a VP of revenue operations. The company currently employs around 500 people and expects headcount to reach 600 by the end of the year.
via TechCrunch AI