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Flai Raises $27M for AI-Driven Dealership Software

9:10 AM ETDeveloping

Technology Desk

In Short: Flai, an AI startup for car dealerships, has raised $27 million to manage customer interactions and appointments.

Flai, an AI startup for car dealerships, announced Tuesday that it has raised a $27 million Series A funding round led by Base10 Partners.

Flai's software integrates deeply into dealerships, managing phone calls, emails, and texts, setting it apart from other AI solutions.

According to Flai co-founder Ari Polakof, the startup's growth is driven by its vision of an AI-powered customer relationship management system tailored to dealerships.

Flai's AI not only answers calls but also follows up with customers and alerts leadership when necessary.

The startup launched with a luxury dealer in Puerto Rico, handling service calls and sales, and is now expanding to eight stores.

Dealerships using Flai are reporting increased sales, higher profits, and faster customer responses.

Flai's customer growth is largely due to word-of-mouth referrals from satisfied dealers.

Half of Flai's revenue now comes from new customers, thanks to its quick setup and customer-centric approach.

Flai's AI is booking 50,000 appointments per month, covering both sales and service.

CEO Ari Polakof envisions a future where Flai's AI handles even more dealership tasks.

Polakof believes that Flai's deep industry knowledge and customer focus protect it from competitors like Meta's Muse.

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• “Sure, we do answer the phone calls, but we’re following up with customers, we’re alerting the leadership whenever they need to take a look at something, maybe because the customer’s mad, or because you forgot to respond, or promised them something next week,” Polakof said.
• “We started where we always do: inbound service calls. It went well enough that they added sales. And now the group is rolling Flai out across all 8 of their stores,” he wrote.
• Perhaps unsurprisingly, Polakof said much of Flai’s customer growth has come from the dealers talking up the product to their peers.
• “If you really do great by them, they also do great by you, and they recommend you, and talk about you,” he said.
• That speed and customer experience, combined with the knowledge Flai has developed on how dealerships work and what they need, is what Polakof said protects the startup from products like Muse, which Meta has pitched as a one-shot solution for small businesses.
• “You get a group of really smart people, and you spend all your days, all your time thinking very deeply about this one space — it’s just so hard to envision that any other platform outside of the space can come in and start going after your customers,” he said.

Sources

• TechCrunchlink