London-based AI company PolyAI has secured $86 million in new growth funding as it accelerates adoption of its voice-based customer service technology across global enterprises.
The Series D round was backed by long-time investors Georgian, Hedosophia, and Khosla Ventures, alongside new and existing participants including NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture arm), Sands Capital, Squarepoint Ventures, Citi Ventures, Point72 Ventures, and the British Business Bank, which committed £15 million.
Addressing The Pressure On Modern Call Centres
Enterprises are facing rising expectations for always-on customer support while struggling with agent shortages, high attrition rates, and escalating operating costs. PolyAI focuses on automating a significant share of inbound voice interactions without compromising service quality.
The company’s AI-powered voice agents already manage millions of customer conversations each year, handling complex requests such as payments, account verification, and data collection.
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Voice AI Designed To Sound Natural
Spun out of the University of Cambridge, PolyAI combines advanced language modeling with applied linguistics to create conversational systems that closely replicate human speech.
Its assistants can be adapted by language, accent, tone, and vocabulary, allowing enterprises to maintain brand consistency while delivering more natural customer experiences. The goal is not simple call deflection, but full resolution of customer issues through voice-first automation.
Enterprise Adoption Across Multiple Sectors
PolyAI reports working with over 100 enterprise customers across industries including hospitality, logistics, financial services, and gaming. Its customer base includes global brands such as Hilton, Marriott, FedEx, Unicredit, and large casino operators in Las Vegas.
These deployments are typically focused on high-volume call flows where response speed and conversational accuracy are critical.
A Hybrid Model For AI Development
Rather than relying on a single foundation model, PolyAI operates a hybrid approach. The platform is built on its own proprietary language models while selectively integrating leading third-party models, allowing it to balance performance, control, and scalability.
This flexibility enables PolyAI to tailor its technology to enterprise-grade requirements around latency, reliability, and compliance.
Fueling The Next Phase Of Growth
According to co-founder and CEO Nikola Mrkšić, the new funding will support continued advances in conversational AI, alongside international expansion and deeper penetration into large enterprise accounts.
The company plans to further improve voice realism, broaden language support, and enhance tooling that allows enterprises to deploy and manage AI agents at scale.
Public Support For UK AI Innovation
The investment also reflects growing institutional backing for AI companies in the UK. Government-linked funding through the British Business Bank underscores broader efforts to strengthen the country’s position as a global hub for applied AI and enterprise technology.
About PolyAI
PolyAI develops enterprise-grade voice AI agents that handle customer service interactions at scale. Designed to sound natural and resolve issues end-to-end, PolyAI’s technology enables global organizations to deliver efficient, human-like support around the clock.
