Yodel.io Raises $1 Million to Expand to the US & Provide Enterprise-Level Voice Integration to SMBs

Yodel.io, the company revolutionising the way small businesses handle and interact with phone calls has announced a $1 million funding round. The cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS)  provider enables customers to access industry leading artificial intelligence (AI) that sits in a team’s communication channel, working as a digital call assistant and transcription service. Yodel empowers SMBs to build and create a phone system to rival that of big business, without the in-house technical knowledge. 

Yodel already allows over 2000 SMBs the tools previously only within the financial grasp of corporate enterprises. Yodel’s system is used by SMBs across a multitude of industries including independent hotels, small shopping chains and independent restaurants, as well as online retailers and tech startups. Yodel is currently operational in 30 languages, spanning 47 countries and powers tens of thousands of inbound phone enquiries per month.

Yodel’s CEO and Co-Founder Mike Heininger explains, “We are able to give SMB owners the power to support their customers, while investing themselves in their work. We have already seen how beneficial our current features are, and we are continually evolving to offer new features that aren’t found anywhere else. Collaboration is the new way businesses work nowadays. And this is exactly who we support with Yodel.Yodel.io, the company revolutionising the way small businesses handle and interact with phone calls has announced a $1 million funding round. The cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS)  provider enables customers to access industry leading artificial intelligence (AI) that sits in a team’s communication channel, working as a digital call assistant and transcription service. Yodel empowers SMBs to build and create a phone system to rival that of big business, without the in-house technical knowledge. 

Yodel already allows over 2000 SMBs the tools previously only within the financial grasp of corporate enterprises. Yodel’s system is used by SMBs across a multitude of industries including independent hotels, small shopping chains and independent restaurants, as well as online retailers and tech startups. Yodel is currently operational in 30 languages, spanning 47 countries and powers tens of thousands of inbound phone enquiries per month.

Yodel’s CEO and Co-Founder Mike Heininger explains, “We are able to give SMB owners the power to support their customers, while investing themselves in their work. We have already seen how beneficial our current features are, and we are continually evolving to offer new features that aren’t found anywhere else. Collaboration is the new way businesses work nowadays. And this is exactly who we support with Yodel.”

The technology handles all inbound calls, allowing its AI driven voice-bot to answer and speak directly to the customer to find out who to connect them to. The call is directed to the selected person through messaging platforms such as Slack or Drift, or the standalone Yodel application. Yodel can transcribe the call, pulling important data from the text allowing the team members to be briefed instantly on the nature of the call. If team members are unavailable, the system will take the required details and let the caller know that the right person will get back to them, briefing the team prior to returning the call. 

Yodel provides these market leading integrations to e-commerce technology provider BlueBoard, allowing its users to have inbound voice integration right from within its platforms, streamlining processes and maximising efficiencies. Leading US-based web-hosting provider, DreamHost also uses Yodel’s technology to support its award winning 24/7 telephone support services.

Founded in 2016, Yodel is a team of six based out of Vienna, London, and San Francisco. This investment round is led by EXF Alpha, the fund of the European Super Angels Club. The round is completed by a collection of European Angel investors.

Berthold Baurek-Karlic of EXF Alpha, added, “Yodel.io is building a great product on top of AI engines of leading tech-giants. Voice, and in particular phone bots, are game changers for businesses and we believe in Yodel.io is the solution key to voice-driven automation for business.”

Whilst Werner Girth, A KPMG  Partner and Telekom Advisor added, “The development of AI is driven not only by the Googles and Amazons of this world. Small companies like Yodel play a huge role in pushing the frontier of how humans are going to interact with machines. These companies are often the inspiration or catalyst for change at the global computing giant, hence why KPMG, we are constantly looking for the most innovative solutions from small companies every year to get them in front of the curtain. To that effect, Yodel was one of the ‘small’ companies that won at our awards in 2018 for its increasingly intelligent AI-driven tools. I can see them continue to set the pace for some time to come.” 

With this investment Yodel will continue its mission of building the most complete voice integration tools available for businesses. The funding will also be used to scale its user-base, notably growing its sales team in the USA with the opening of a permanent New York office. 

Yodel’s services was named by Gartner in 2018 as a Cool Vendor in Unified Communications and Collaborations. 

The technology handles all inbound calls, allowing its AI driven voice-bot to answer and speak directly to the customer to find out who to connect them to. The call is directed to the selected person through messaging platforms such as Slack or Drift, or the standalone Yodel application. Yodel can transcribe the call, pulling important data from the text allowing the team members to be briefed instantly on the nature of the call. If team members are unavailable, the system will take the required details and let the caller know that the right person will get back to them, briefing the team prior to returning the call. 

Yodel provides these market leading integrations to e-commerce technology provider BlueBoard, allowing its users to have inbound voice integration right from within its platforms, streamlining processes and maximising efficiencies. Leading US-based web-hosting provider, DreamHost also uses Yodel’s technology to support its award winning 24/7 telephone support services. 

Founded in 2016, Yodel is a team of six based out of Vienna, London, and San Francisco. This investment round is led by EXF Alpha, the fund of the European Super Angels Club. The round is completed by a collection of European Angel investors.

Berthold Baurek-Karlic of EXF Alpha, added, “Yodel.io is building a great product on top of AI engines of leading tech-giants. Voice, and in particular phone bots, are game changers for businesses and we believe in Yodel.io is the solution key to voice-driven automation for business.”

Whilst Werner Girth, A KPMG  Partner and Telekom Advisor added, “The development of AI is driven not only by the Googles and Amazons of this world. Small companies like Yodel play a huge role in pushing the frontier of how humans are going to interact with machines. These companies are often the inspiration or catalyst for change at the global computing giant, hence why KPMG, we are constantly looking for the most innovative solutions from small companies every year to get them in front of the curtain. To that effect, Yodel was one of the ‘small’ companies that won at our awards in 2018 for its increasingly intelligent AI-driven tools. I can see them continue to set the pace for some time to come.” 

With this investment Yodel will continue its mission of building the most complete voice integration tools available for businesses. The funding will also be used to scale its user-base, notably growing its sales team in the USA with the opening of a permanent New York office. 

Yodel’s services was named by Gartner in 2018 as a Cool Vendor in Unified Communications and Collaborations.