August 15, 2023: We have the exclusive

EXCLUSIVE: Voiceflow just announced a $15M round. We dive more into their origin story and the inspiration behind the company. 

What is Voiceflow?

Voiceflow makes it easy to build AI Agents.

Teams use Voiceflow to design, test, and launch chat or voice AI agents — together, faster, at scale.

What was the insight/inspiration that led you to launch it?

We felt there were no tools that allowed teams to collaborate whilst building AI Agents.

How has it been received by the market? What do you think it has been so well received?

We have 130,000 global users. I believe people resonate with the ability to collaborate whilst they build.

How did you know you were ready to found a company?

I'm a horrible employee as I always want to go go go and that's not conducive to working most jobs outside of being a founder.

What has been the hardest thing on your journey so far?

Building a team.

It's really hard to hire great people and align incentives

What has been the most pleasant surprise?

Once it starts to work, it really works!

Who is the unsung hero on the team? Why?

My co-founder Tyler - he's an incredible engineer who doesn't get enough credit.

What are you trying to achieve over the next 12 months?

We're looking to become the largest Conversational AI platform

Who are the Canadian startups you like in your market?

Cohere - making it easier to add AI to your product

Ada - empowers you to scale support without increasing headcount

HumanFirst - natural language data productivity suite to
design, test, and launch high-quality NLU models and prompts that
power business insights, automation, and CX

More on the raise

Read more about Voiceflow’s recent raise here

Three venture fund announcements are shaping the current funding landscape:

1. OMERS Ventures is closing its London office and refocusing on North America due to declining European funding and slow recovery. This shift could benefit the Canadian ecosystem by allowing OMERS to concentrate on local growth.

2. Brookfield Asset Management and Sequoia Heritage are investing $500 million in Pinegrove Capital, a fund designed to capitalize on the current market situation. Venture funds are struggling with limited exits and liquidity, and Pinegrove aims to purchase positions from funds and LPs at discounted rates, potentially leading to new shareholders and injecting liquidity into the Canadian market.

3. Next Gen VC Partners has introduced an $8 million fund focusing on early-stage companies aiming for profitability, a contrast to the growth-at-all-costs approach. By providing bridge financing at moderate valuations, this strategy helps companies achieve sustainability and evade failure.

What does this mean?

These fund moves reflect the evolving funding environment and could impact the Canadian ecosystem positively by allowing for better local focus, offering solutions for liquidity challenges, and supporting companies pursuing sustainable growth paths.

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#ICYMI - more on our profile company Voiceflow’s recent raise

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