Voice AI Startup Keplar Secures Seed Funding to Transform Market Research
Key Points
- Keplar’s voice‑AI platform automates customer interviews and analysis.
- Seed round of $3.4 million led by Kleiner Perkins with SV Angel, Common Metal and South Park Commons.
- Founders Dhruv Guliani (ex‑Google) and William Wen built the product after a founder fellowship.
- Platform creates interview guides, conducts AI‑driven conversations, and delivers report‑style insights.
- Early customers include Clorox and Intercom, citing faster and cheaper research.
- Competitors Outset and Listen Labs have also raised multi‑digit million‑dollar rounds.
Keplar, a two‑year‑old voice AI startup, announced a $3.4 million seed round led by Kleiner Perkins with participation from SV Angel, Common Metal and South Park Commons. The company’s platform uses conversational AI to conduct customer interviews, delivering insights faster and at lower cost than traditional market‑research firms. Keplar’s technology can automatically generate interview guides, reach out to participants via a voice assistant, and compile results into reports similar to those produced by human-checked research. Early customers include Clorox and Intercom, and the startup joins other AI‑driven research players such as Outset and Listen Labs.
Keplar’s Funding and Backers
Keplar, a market‑research startup founded two years ago, closed a seed financing round of $3.4 million. The round was led by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins and included participation from SV Angel, Common Metal and South Park Commons. The capital infusion is intended to accelerate the development of Keplar’s voice‑AI platform and expand its client base.
Founders and Vision
The company was created by former Google engineer Dhruv Guliani, who worked on speech and voice‑AI models, and machine‑learning engineer William Wen. Both participated in the South Park Commons founder fellowship program. Their conversations with market‑research professionals revealed that traditional tools—written surveys and human‑conducted interviews—could be replaced by conversational AI, prompting the launch of Keplar.
How the Platform Works
Keplar’s technology allows companies to set up research studies in minutes. Users can input any product‑related question, and the platform automatically creates an interview moderation guide. A voice assistant then contacts participants, asks probing questions, and records responses. When integrated with a client’s CRM, the AI can reach out directly to existing customers. After the conversations, the system packages the insights into reports and PowerPoint presentations that mimic the format of conventional market‑research deliverables.
Impact on the Research Process
The voice‑AI approach dramatically reduces the time and cost associated with traditional market research. Participants often forget they are speaking with an AI, leading to natural, candid feedback. Keplar’s early adopters, including Clorox and Intercom, have reported faster turnaround and lower expenses compared with legacy research firms.
Competitive Landscape
Keplar is not the sole AI company targeting the research market. Outset, another competitor, raised $17 million in a Series A round led by 8VC, while Listen Labs secured $27 million from Sequoia. These firms, along with Keplar, illustrate a growing trend toward AI‑driven insights in the enterprise sector.