As an AI engineer at Meta, Boris Valkov helped build PyTorch, one of the world’s largest machine learning libraries.
During his time there, Valkov realized that artificial intelligence “was about to unlock capabilities…in the application layer in the software stack.”
He left Meta in late 2021 to start Lace AI, a startup that has developed AI-driven customer service software for home service companies.
The path to entrepreneurship started when Valkov was a boy, working in the family grocery store business. It taught him the power of telephone customer service. As an adult, he began to look for ways to combine his interest in AI and customer service. The idea for Lace was born.
Taking his years of software engineering experience at VMware and Meta, Valkov teamed up with Stan Stoyanov and aimed to marry AI with customer service to help businesses generate additional revenue.
The pair talked to more than 100 companies in different industries and verticals and discovered that in the home services vertical, many sales begin with a call made to a call center. Home services include companies such as HVAC, plumbing, and roofing, among others.
The premise behind Lace is that if a customer calls in to one of these businesses, it can either convert into a sale — or not. The company claims its software can help improve the chances of call conversions.
Specifically, Lace’s revenue intelligence software uses AI technology to analyze all the calls coming into these businesses to detect lost revenue opportunities. It claims that it’s more comprehensive than other similar offerings in that it monitors 100% of the calls rather than a portion of them. It analyzes each interaction “to ensure that no potential lead or opportunity is missed,” according to Valkov.
The Mountain View-based company works with over 100 businesses, such as A1 Garage Door Service, Sage Home, Eco Plumbers, Matrix, and Lee’s Air. Valkov declined to reveal hard revenue figures, saying only that Lace saw 1,000% annual recurring revenue (ARR) growth in 2024. (However, it only started selling to customers at the end of 2023.) The company operates a SaaS (software-as-a-service) business model, charging a monthly fee per agent or customer support representative.
Even just a 1% increase in bookings could be material for a home services or a home remodeling company. For example, a company with $300 million in revenue experiencing a 1% increase would see its revenue increase by $3 million. Some businesses that use Lace see double-digit revenue growth, Valkov said.
And today, Lace is announcing a total of $19 million in funding since its early 2022 inception, the company tells TechCrunch exclusively. The total raised includes a previously unannounced $5 million pre-seed round led by Canvas Ventures and, more recently, a $14 million seed raise led by Bek Ventures. Other backers include Horizon VC, Launchub, and Snowflake’s co-founder Marcin Zukowski, Vivino’s Heini Zachariassen, and other founders. Valkov declined to reveal valuation, saying only that the seed financing was an “up” round.
Mehmet Atici, managing partner at Bek Ventures, said he was drawn to invest in Lace in part because of its experienced team.
“There’s a growing trend of applying AI to make a real impact in sectors historically underserved by tech, and this team has a keen understanding of how to do just that — accurately identifying and addressing the needs of these often overlooked segments represents an enormous opportunity,” he told TechCrunch.
Presently, Lace has 20 employees. It plans to triple the size of the company with its new funding.
Source: Original Article
