telli funding news – Berlin-based telli Secures $3.6 Million in Pre-Seed Funding

telli helps businesses use AI voice agents to make phone calls, turning leads into customers and improving the sales process — especially in industries with high call volumes.

These AI agents are already handling thousands of calls daily, helping book appointments, suggest products, qualify leads, and work alongside human agents through smart systems.

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Over the past 3 months, telli’s revenue has grown by over 50% every month. With more than 80% of their customers coming from referrals or inbound interest, the company is expanding into sectors like real estate, solar energy, healthcare, and financial services.

Richard Ruben, CEO of KitchenAdvisor, a leading online kitchen platform said, “We’d never want to go back to life without telli — it’s become an essential part of how our team works, Our sales team can focus more on customers, we never miss a lead anymore, and we’ve seen a clear lift in conversion throughout the funnel.”

telli was founded by Seb Hapte-Selassie, Philipp Baumanns, and Finn zur Mühlen — a team that combines deep knowledge of call operations with top-tier tech skills.

Philipp and Finn were the first two employees in the heat pump division at German energy unicorn Enpal, where they worked on a busy sales floor with hundreds of reps making thousands of calls daily.

They teamed up with Seb, a Stanford-trained computer scientist with experience in AI voice technology and human-computer interaction.

Their time at Enpal gave them firsthand experience of how tough it is to manage large-scale phone operations — balancing performance, tools, changing demand, and staffing, while still delivering a great customer experience. This real-world insight is what’s driving the development of telli.

Finn zur Mühlen, CEO of telli said, “We know this problem inside out - we are redefining how humans and AI collaborate in call operations. This is a category-defining product from Europe with global ambition and a world-class team,".

Christoph Pirkl, CSO at enerix, a leading solar installation franchise with more than 130 locations said, “We had explored voice automation for some time, but struggled to find a partner who truly understood the complexity behind phone-based processes, The telli team really stood out not just technically, but commercially. They brought a ton of real-world best practices which made it easy to trust their approach.”

Jasper Masemann, Partner at Cherry Ventures said, “telli’s AI voice agents are a game-changer for call-heavy industries and we’re thrilled they’re joining the Cherry portfolio, Finn, Philipp, Seb and the telli team are unlocking enormous opportunities for businesses to automate time-consuming tasks and focus on what really matters—building meaningful relationships with customers and driving growth.”

The funding will help telli grow even faster as they change the way humans and AI work together in call operations.

About telli

telli is an AI platform that automates calls. Their team has created software, customer processes, and strategies for top companies. Now, they are transforming the way customers experience the buying journey.