Revolutionizing Customer Research: How Strella’s AI Interviews are Transforming the Startup Landscape as Funding Soars to $14M

Strella, a company that offers an AI-powered customer research platform, has recently secured $14 million in Series A funding, just one year after emerging from stealth. The funding round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Decibel Partners, Bain Future Back Ventures, MVP Ventures, and 645 Ventures. This investment will enable Strella to expand its platform and cater to the growing demand for artificial intelligence solutions in customer research.

Founded by Lydia Hylton and Priya Krishnan, Strella aims to streamline the customer research process, which traditionally could take up to eight weeks to complete. Since its inception, the company has experienced significant growth, with a tenfold increase in revenue, a quadrupling of its customer base to over 40 paying enterprises, and a tripling of average contract values by targeting Fortune 500 companies.

Strella’s platform is currently used by companies like Amazon, Duolingo, Apollo GraphQL, and Chobani, conducting thousands of AI-moderated interviews that save an average of 90% of the time typically spent on manual research work. The company has achieved nearly $1 million in revenue since monetization began in January, with a 50% month-over-month growth rate and zero customer churn.

One of Strella’s key features is its AI-powered interviews, which compress traditional eight-week research projects into just a few days. By using AI to moderate voice-based interviews, the platform eliminates the need for manual tasks like writing interview guides, recruiting participants, and synthesizing findings. Strella’s technology allows for natural, free-flowing conversations that yield valuable insights in a fraction of the time.

Interestingly, Strella has found that participants tend to be more honest with AI moderators than with humans, providing valuable feedback that would otherwise be difficult to obtain. This has led to deeper insights and more honest feedback from customers, ultimately benefiting companies like Apollo GraphQL, whose product design manager noted significant time savings and increased feedback quality.

The platform also addresses fraud in online surveys by conducting interviews on camera in real-time, allowing the AI moderator to detect potentially fraudulent behavior. Additionally, Strella’s mobile application, launched recently, enables persistent screen sharing during interviews, providing researchers with real-time insights into how users interact with mobile applications.

Strella’s approach to customer research sets it apart from other AI-powered startups in the market. While some competitors focus on adaptive surveys or text-based interfaces, Strella emphasizes free-form conversations that allow for a more natural and engaging experience. The platform continuously learns from each customer’s research patterns, fine-tuning future interviews for enhanced insights.

Looking ahead, Strella plans to expand its product and go-to-market teams with the Series A funding. The company aims to enhance the participant experience further by adding visual capabilities and improving collaboration between human researchers and AI moderators. This focus on human-AI collaboration aligns with Strella’s vision of enhancing, rather than replacing, human judgment in the customer research process.

In conclusion, Strella’s innovative approach to AI-powered customer research has garnered significant attention in the market. By democratizing access to customer feedback, the company enables organizations to make data-driven decisions and improve customer experiences. With a strong focus on technology, product excellence, and customer satisfaction, Strella is poised for continued success in the competitive landscape of AI research startups.