Connectly Raises $20 Million to Build Conversational Commerce Tools

Conversational commerce startup Connectly has raised $20 million in funding.

The Series B round, announced Wednesday (Sept. 11), was led by Alibaba, with participation from Unusual Ventures, Volpe Capital, RX Ventures, Falabella Ventures and Philippos Kourkoulos Latsis. 

Connectly, founded in 2020 by veterans of Facebook, Google, Uber and McKinsey, uses artificial intelligence (AI) models to help retailers expand their business with personalized two-way customer messages.

“Most interactions between brands and consumers are through old-fashioned one-way communication channels, like SMS and email that produce shallow engagement and read rates,” the company said in a news release. “Businesses need a personalized two-way conversation to efficiently communicate with their customers to boost sales and engagement.”

Connectly says it solves this issue with a code-free platform that lets businesses instantly create interactive campaigns and use AI to automate two-way conversations with both prospective leads and existing customers.

According to the release, the Series B funding is the latest in a series of recent milestones for Connectly, such as a Series A in October of 2023, and the launch of its AI product recommendation assistant Sofia AI. The last year has also seen the company nearly double its revenue as well as its headcount.

PYMTS spoke earlier this year with Joscha Koepke, chief product officer at Connectly, for a conversation about the pitfalls of trying to imbed humor into AI chatbots. He noted that the context in which an AI chatbot is deployed plays a crucial role.

“For example, an AI customer support agent handling flight cancellations does not benefit from being funny, and people will likely react negatively to humor in stressful situations,” Koepke said. 

By contrast, an AI chatbot recommending fashion products can improve users’ experience with a touch of wit. And cultural differences and language nuances bring another layer of complexity in creating a humorous AI. 

“To address this, developers use localized datasets and cultural sensitivity training for AI models,” Koepke said.

More recently, PYMNTS examined efforts by Big Tech companies to develop sophisticated, multilingual AI chatbots for cross-border eCommerce, something that could transform how businesses engage with international customers. 

“Multilingual AI chatbots hold significant potential for SMBs looking to expand into international markets,” Tim Peters, CMO of Enghouse Systems, told PYMNTS. “By providing real-time, accurate translations, these chatbots can help businesses overcome language barriers, making it easier to connect with customers globally.”