The Netherlands-based Neople, the software solution company that creates AI co-workers for e-commerce customer support teams, announced on Tuesday that it has raised €6M in a fresh funding round led by Newion and Simon Capital.
Existing investors, including Peak and Curiosity, also participated.
The Dutch company will use the funds to enter the German market and launch the first AI training centre for digital co-workers.
The company is planning to launch the Berlin office in September 2024.
Talking about the challenges of scaling AI solutions in external markets like Germany to Silicon Canals, Hans de Penning, cofounder and CEO of Neople, says, “We already have some international clients, but local differences in culture are something that we are aware of. That’s also why we are hiring locals, to grasp the language and cultural nuances. Content will also need to be localised, physical presence is essential, and sale cycles tend to be a bit longer in Germany. In my view, we’re well prepared to successfully undertake the expansion.”
At the end of the year, 200 Neople will work at various e-commerce companies.
What does Neople solve?
Typically, in the e-commerce industry, consumers demand high-quality support, but support teams struggle with high workloads.
Founded in 2023, Neople solves this problem by offering a digital co-worker. The company provides AI colleagues for customer service teams in e-commerce.
However, AI is not widely used in support roles yet because it often delivers incomplete, incorrect, or poorly toned responses.
Explaining it de Penning, says, “Yes that’s true, that’s why we started with helping the support officers by giving the best possible suggestion. They check the answer before sending it out to the customer. When it’s not yet complete or contextually accurate, the Neople is trained to learn from every interaction. Over time, the Neople will understand what questions it can accurately answer. We can then start to automate those repetitive tasks, but not right from the start.”
Implementing various AI models
Neople’s new training centre enables senior staff to train AI colleagues so they can eventually provide fully autonomous customer service.
The company does this by implementing various AI models, evaluators, topic modeling, data pipelines, and various integrated feedback systems.
By now, over 100 leading Dutch and German e-commerce businesses have hired a Neople, claims the company.
Job displacement and over-reliance on AI
Clarifying concerns related to job displacement and potential over-reliance on AI for customer support tasks addressed, de Penning adds, “We will not deny that in the long run, jobs will change. They will not per se disappear, but they will adapt to a new reality in which AI plays a bigger role. This has always been the case: same holds with the introduction of electricity, the computer, or the internet.”
“We believe that in this future, you will learn to work together with AI agents. This collaboration should happen in a collegial way, which can be just as productive and respectful as with a human colleague – or 10x as much. In our view, companies that adapt to this new reality (where digital co-workers are omnipresent) are preparing their employees in a better way,” he adds.
The investor
Newion is a venture capital firm that specialises in European B2B software startups and scale-ups with global aspirations. Founded in 2000, the firm has invested in over 60 startups. Newion IV, their latest fund, is supported by the EU’s InvestEU fund.
Dorus Olgers, Principal at Newion, explains, “We are impressed by Neople’s humanised approach to AI, driven by a deep vertical understanding of the markets they serve. This has resulted in a product their customers love, which has disrupted their traditional approach on customer support”
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