Agara, a startup that uses Real-time Voice AI to power autonomous voice agents has raised $4.3 million in Pre-Series A extension round led by UTEC, a Japan-based early stage deep-tech venture capital firm. Existing investors Blume Ventures and RTP Global also participated in the round. With the extension round coming to a close, Agara has so far raised a total of $7.5 million.

Founded in 2017 by Abhimanyu and Arjun Maheswaran, Agara creates autonomous voice conversation agents designed to handle customer support calls without human assistance. The Bangalore and New York headquartered startup is building the next generation of virtual voice agents for financial services, consumer products & retail industries and helps enhance customer experience and cut support costs.

Abhimanyu, Co-founder & CEO, Agara said, “Whether it is sales calls, phone support or product feedback, voice has been the top choice for companies around the globe. We strive to be pioneers in the voice-first world. With the new Covid norms, we expect the demand for virtual voice agents to rise manifold”.

Agara has successfully filed six patents (filed in the USA). The ML/AI-based system patents have been developed by Agara’s team to help its voice agents understand, classify and summarise language.

Agara is working towards doubling its team of ML research executives and data scientists in 2021 and plans to establish its first pure AI research team at Bengaluru in 2021.