Webio co-founders (L-R): Cormac O’Neill, Mark Oppermann, Paul Sweeney | Image credit: Webio
Dublin-based Webio, a company that brings Artificial Intelligence-driven conversations to the credit, collections and payments industry, announced on Thursday that it has raised $4M (approximately €3.84M) in its Series A round of funding led by Amsterdam-based Finch Capital.
Mike Brennan of Finch Capital says, “Webio is reimagining the way customer credit conversations take place in the collections industry. This sector is ripe for disruption, its approach to its customers is outdated and it’s an extremely large market which is set for significant growth. Webio has established itself as an award-winning provider with triple-digit growth in this market and is well-positioned to help the sector overcome key challenges around digital transformation and the adoption of AI.”
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Improving liquidity by making difficult customer conversations easy
Founded in 2016 by Cormac O’Neill, Mark Oppermann and Paul Sweeney, Webio is on a mission to rebalance the Credit, Collections, and Payment ecosystem. It makes difficult customer conversations easier with its conversational AI platform.
Leading UK and Irish brands, like The Very Group, Studio Retail, Hoist Finance, DCBL, NCO Europe, and Anglian Water, use Webio’s conversational platform to set up millions of customer conversations at scale and have personalised conversations.
Co-founder Cormac O’Neill says, “Conversations about money are stressful and difficult, not only for the customer but also for agents tasked with having these conversations. Going digital means companies can create a whole new set of digital experiences that help customers feel more confident in having those difficult conversations and ultimately, stop them from falling into unnecessary and significant financial difficulty. And we are excited that Webio’s conversational AI is enabling companies to engage with customers in a more empathetic manner, at scale.”
The no-code platform allows Webio customers and partners to get up and running with conversational AI over SMS, WhatsApp, Webchat, and other channels in hours, not months. Customers can ask questions, change payment dates, or organise a new repayment schedule, all tailored to their circumstances, through conversational AI and automation.
The platform helps in forecasting conversation outcomes by analysing what is said and how it is spoken. It does that by identifying traits such as a person’s potential susceptibility early and precisely, and then dynamically leading customer dialogues through a variety of appropriate next moves.
Capital utilisation
Webio says it will use the funds to deepen its capabilities in conversational AI and additional digital offerings. The company’s plan is to triple its R&D team, expand the sales & marketing teams, as well as expand its customer success teams to address the market demand in the UK and European markets.
Co-founder Cormac O’Neill says, “We are growing at more than 100 per cent year-on-year, and we are targeted to double our headcount with this investment in the next 6 months. I am confident that Webio will maintain its rate of growth and may look to raise additional capital to enter new markets. There are very exciting times ahead for us.”
“We are certainly in the right market and at the right time. All I can say is watch this space,” adds O’Neill.
About Finch Capital
Finch Capital is a thematic growth investor in European technology companies in sectors, including finance, real estate and health. It invests between €2M to €10M and up to €50M with co-investors.
Founded in 2013, the firm’s mission is to fund and support entrepreneurs who are creating products that will shape the future of these themes. The firm has backed companies such as AccountsIQ, Fourthline, Goodlord, Hiber, Symmetrical, Lantum and NomuPay.
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