Boris Valkov, a former AI engineer at Meta, has now reportedly successfully raised $14 million for his startup, Lace AI, which focuses on revenue generation through AI-driven customer service software.
During his tenure at Meta, Valkov contributed to the development of PyTorch, a leading machine learning library.
Recognizing the potential of AI to transform the software application layer, he left Meta in late 2021 to pursue his entrepreneurial ambitions.
Inspired by his childhood experiences in his family’s grocery store, Valkov sought to integrate AI with customer service to enhance revenue opportunities for home service companies, such as HVAC and plumbing businesses.
Teaming up with co-founder Stan Stoyanov, he conducted interviews with over 100 companies to identify common challenges in the home services sector, particularly around call center sales.
Lace AI’s software is designed to improve call conversion rates by analyzing 100% of incoming calls, allowing businesses to detect missed revenue opportunities.
The company claims its comprehensive approach is more effective than competitors that only monitor a portion of calls.
Lace currently partners with over 100 businesses, including A1 Garage Door Service and Eco Plumbers, and has reported an impressive 1,000% annual recurring revenue growth in 2024, despite only starting sales at the end of 2023.
With a total of $19 million raised since its inception in early 2022, Lace’s recent funding round included a $5 million pre-seed round led by Canvas Ventures and the latest $14 million seed round led by Bek Ventures.
This new capital will help the company expand its workforce from 20 to 60 employees, as it aims to capitalize on the growing trend of applying AI in traditionally underserved industries.
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