Rounded: Revolutionizing Customer Interaction with AI Voice Agents
Rounded, a French startup, is pioneering the future of customer interaction by enabling companies to create their own AI voice agents through its innovative orchestration platform.
Rounded, a forward-thinking French startup, is setting the stage for a future where AI voice agents become the primary interface between companies and their customers. Instead of offering pre-built AI voice agents, Rounded has developed an orchestration platform that empowers companies to craft their own bespoke voice agents tailored to their specific needs.
Originally venturing into the web3 space, Rounded shifted its focus to AI voice agents in June 2023. The initial concept was straightforward: integrate ChatGPT between a transcriber and a synthesizer to create value. However, the journey to product-market fit was not without its challenges. The team soon realized the market’s unpreparedness for voice agents, prompting them to develop Donna, an AI voice agent designed specifically for anesthetists. This niche was chosen due to the high volume of transactional calls anesthesia secretaries handle, making it an ideal testing ground for their technology.
Donna’s success in managing hundreds of thousands of conversations across 15 private hospitals marked a significant milestone for Rounded. The startup has since enhanced its platform, achieving remarkable improvements in accuracy, integration, and speed, with call latencies now under 700 milliseconds.
Rounded’s latest innovation is an orchestration product that allows companies to build their own voice agents by selecting from a range of AI models for speech-to-text, LLM, and text-to-speech functionalities. This platform not only facilitates the creation of voice agents but also supports the iterative process of refining prompts and parameters to develop highly reliable agents.
With €600,000 in funding from UC Berkeley’s SkyDeck and various business angels, Rounded is poised for further growth in the bustling AI industry. The startup’s vision is clear: to democratize the creation of AI voice agents, enabling companies to redefine customer interaction in the digital age.