For decades, Fortune 500 companies have had to hire market research companies to gain meaningful insights into customer satisfaction. These services come with a large price tag and often take weeks to complete.
Market research startup Keplar uses Voice AI to conduct customer interviews to provide clients with faster analysis and at the cost of a part of traditional research consulting firms. On Wednesday, the 2-year-old announced a $3.4 million seed funding led by Kleiner Perkins, citing participation from SV Angel, Common Metal and South Park Commons.
Keplar’s idea was conceived in 2023 when Google engineer Dhruv Guliani (right above) worked on the Speech and Voice AI model, and machine learning engineer William Wen joined the South Park Commons Founder Fellowship program.
The duo spoke with market researchers and brand managers and realized that the tools these experts rely on (human-based written research and interviews) can be replaced by conversational AI.
Along with Kepler, companies can set up research in minutes, Guliani told TechCrunch. Startup platforms can turn product questions into interview moderation guides. Keplar’s voice assistant will then reach out to participants and ask questions to help customers understand what they like and dislike about the product.
If Keplar is granted access to the client’s CRM, AI voice researchers will reach out to existing customers. The results of AI conversations are packaged in reports and PowerPoint presentations, similar to those traditionally provided by human market researchers.
It would have been impossible to rely on voice bots before the advances in LLMS. However, Voice AI is getting so much better, research participants sometimes forget to talk to AI, Guliani said.
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“These conversations feel really real. If you play everything back and forth, you can even hear participants addressing AI moderators by name: Ellie, Andrew, or Ryan.”
Startup customers include Clorox and Intercom.
Keplar is not just an AI company trying to disrupt the customer research market. The larger competitor raised a $17 million Series A led by 8VC in June and a Listen Labs, which raised $27 million from Sequoia in April.
