For decades, Fortune 500 companies had to spend big bucks on market research firms just to learn how customers really felt. The process took weeks, and cost a fortune.
Now, Keplar, a two-year-old startup, is flipping the script with voice AI that interviews customers directly, and delivers insights in record time.
On Wednesday, Keplar announced a $3.4 million seed round led by Kleiner Perkins, with backing from SV Angel, Common Metal, and South Park Commons.
The idea sparked in 2023 when Dhruv Guliani (ex-Google voice AI engineer) and William Wen (machine learning expert) realized traditional surveys and human-led interviews could be replaced with smarter AI conversations.
Here’s how it works:
- Companies upload their questions, and Keplar builds an interview guide.
- Keplar’s voice assistant (nicknamed Ellie, Andrew, or Ryan) calls participants, asking natural follow-up questions.
- The conversations feel so real that people sometimes forget they’re talking to AI.
- The results? Packaged neatly into reports and PowerPoints, just like traditional research firms, but faster and way cheaper.
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Keplar’s early customers include Clorox and Intercom.
Of course, they’re not alone in this race. Rivals like Outset (backed by $17M from 8VC) and Listen Labs (raised $27M from Sequoia) are also vying to disrupt the multi-billion-dollar customer research industry.
Still, with its new funding and big-name clients, Keplar is positioning itself as the startup giving every brand a voice, literally.
