Telli secures $3.6M to scale its AI voice agents globally

Telli, a Berlin startup offering AI voice agents for customer-facing businesses, has secured $3.6 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Cherry Ventures and Y Combinator. The startup’s AI-powered system is designed to automate high-volume phone interactions, especially in areas like appointment scheduling and lead qualification, while allowing human agents to focus on more complex tasks.

Voice technology built from real-world experience

The founders of Telli—Seb Hapte-Selassie, Philipp Baumanns, and Finn zur Muhlen—previously worked at Enpal, one of Germany’s leading startups in the energy sector. Their exposure to the intense demands of customer support inspired them to rethink how voice automation could be applied more effectively. CEO zur Muhlen explained, “We scaled the customer service people, and we saw firsthand how difficult call automation for customer acquisition is and how difficult it is to manage performance.”

The company’s product is currently being used to streamline communications in several industries. These AI voice agents are capable of handling callbacks, qualifying customer leads, offering product suggestions, and even finalizing bookings. According to zur Muhlen, “They actually achieve outcomes like booking appointments, prequalifying leads, making product suggestions, and so on.”

Rapid growth and global customer base

Despite having a team of only six people, Telli reports processing nearly one million calls to date. The company claims its monthly revenue has grown by over 50% consistently, suggesting strong demand for its services. Clients are located across Germany, the UK, Latin America, and the United States, with the startup planning to expand further into global markets.

The AI voices used in Telli’s system are not generic digital outputs but rather based on real human voices. Professional voice actors are hired, and their voices are then cloned using platforms like ElevenLabs and Cartesian AI. This approach allows the agents to sound more natural during interactions.

Flexible use of AI models and infrastructure

Telli does not rely on a single large language model to power its system. Instead, the team dynamically switches between providers such as OpenAI, Claude, and others. “We switch around. Our goal is always to give our customers the best solutions that are out there right now,” said zur Muhlen, emphasizing the company’s focus on adaptability and quality.

With its new funding, Telli aims to further refine its AI capabilities, expand its engineering team, and accelerate its integration with enterprise clients. The startup positions itself as a technical enabler for businesses seeking to manage inbound voice traffic without increasing headcount.