FoundersToday’s Post

ChatFeatured just raised a $2M oversubscribed pre-seed round to build an autonomous AEO agent, and the interesting part is not another startup putting "AI" next to a dashboard. It is the decision to make the dashboard do the work. Storytime Capital led the round, with Garage Capital and BY Venture Partners participating. ChatFeatured initially set out to raise $1.5M, expanded the round after investor demand, and will use the capital for product development, go-to-market expansion, and growing a team that BetaKit reports is currently five people strong. That is a lot of ambition inside a small room. CEO Farris N. spent more than a decade in go-to-market roles before teaching himself to code, while CTO Nithiiyan Skhanthan brought experience from Tesla and two venture-backed startups, including Y Combinator-backed LifestyleRx. Founding team member Ryan Nahas adds Salesforce growth experience and two private equity exits. The product targets a problem marketing teams are already feeling. AI assistants increasingly shape what people discover, compare, and buy, but most visibility tools hand over a report and leave the hard part on somebody else's desk. ChatFeatured analyzes what large language models cite, identifies where competitors are winning, builds a strategy, creates and publishes content, and measures what changes. The timing matters. Pew Research Center found that U.S. Google users clicked a traditional search result on 8% of visits when an AI summary appeared, compared with 15% when one did not. Links inside AI summaries drew clicks on just 1% of visits. If the customer never reaches your website, the sources shaping the answer become part of the storefront. ChatFeatured says the platform launched in January 2026, is growing more than 40% month over month, and serves customers across five countries. Those are company-reported figures, but the signal is difficult to ignore: this product is built around execution, not simply observation. The next version is designed to identify gaps in a brand's online presence, surface source and editorial opportunities, create and publish content, and then tell the marketing team what happens next. That shifts AEO from a quarterly slide deck into an operating system, which aligns closely with Storytime Capital's future-of-work thesis. The $2M matters, but the more interesting question is what happens when brand discovery becomes a machine-mediated contest and the software stops describing the problem long enough to start solving it. #AEO #MarketingTechnology #SaaS #StartupFounders #VentureCapital

When a founder who built a $32M-funded startup joins as CPO, you know the acquisition is about more than just talent—it's about vision. Klaviyo just acquired Agency, the AI-powered customer success platform founded by serial entrepreneur Elias Torres. Here's what makes this move significant: 🎯 The Reunion Effect Torres previously led Performable, where Klaviyo's CEO Andrew Bialecki worked under him. Now they're reuniting to build the next generation of AI agents for customer interactions. 🤖 What They're Building Agency's 25-person team brings specialized expertise in AI agents. Combined with Klaviyo's existing Composer (marketing assistant) and Customer Agent (post-purchase support), they're creating an integrated AI ecosystem that automates customer interactions across the entire lifecycle. 📊 The Scale Klaviyo serves 200,000+ customers. This acquisition isn't just about innovation—it's about embedding AI agents into the workflows of hundreds of thousands of businesses. 💡 Why This Matters Customer data is becoming the competitive moat for AI. Klaviyo's massive customer database gives them a unique advantage: they can train AI agents on real customer behavior patterns, not just generic data. That's a significant edge in a crowded AI market. The trend is clear: companies aren't just adopting AI tools anymore. They're acquiring AI talent and technology to build proprietary AI capabilities that serve their entire customer base. What's your take—are acquisitions like this the new way companies build competitive AI advantages?

🚀 Funding News ChatFeatured has raised US$2 million in Pre-Seed funding to help brands optimize their visibility in the era of AI-powered search. The Toronto-based startup's funding round was led by Storytime Capital, with participation from Garage Capital and BY Venture Partners. The fresh capital will be used to expand the company's operations and accelerate the development of its AI search optimization platform. Led by CEO Farris N., CTO Nithiiyan Skhanthan, and Ryan Nahas, ChatFeatured is building a platform that helps marketing teams get cited by leading AI assistants when consumers ask what products or services to buy. Instead of focusing solely on traditional SEO, the platform analyzes the sources large language models reference, identifies content and competitive gaps, creates optimized content strategies, publishes content, and measures visibility across major AI search platforms. Founded in 2026, ChatFeatured already serves customers in five countries, positioning itself at the forefront of the emerging AI Search Optimization (AISO) category. As AI assistants increasingly influence purchase decisions, the company aims to help businesses adapt their digital marketing strategies for the next generation of search. The future of search is shifting from rankings to AI recommendations—and startups like ChatFeatured are helping brands stay visible where buying decisions are increasingly being made. #StartupFunding #AISearch #ArtificialIntelligence #SEO #AISO #MarTech #GenerativeAI #PreSeed #VentureCapital #StartupNews #BusinessNews #GlobalStartupsInsights

Respond.io, a Malaysian startup, just raised $62.5M for its AI agent-powered messaging app ⚠️. This funding could fuel acquisitions as it scales. You might want to keep an eye on who they target next. 🤔 Will they focus on tech companies or broader enterprises? The model charges per conversation, not per user seat, making it versatile but potentially costlier for smaller businesses. What do you think will sway more customers—lowering the price or improving AI capabilities? #AIInnovation #TechFuture #ScienceExplorers #ArtificialIntelligence #TechOfficeScene https://lnkd.in/e36PFWJD

The $100,000 mistake I see AI startups make over and over again. They think growth comes from spending more. More engineers. More features. More ads. More AI models. More integrations. Everything gets funded... Except the one thing responsible for turning visitors into customers. The buying experience. I've seen startups spend months building an incredible AI product. Then launch with a landing page that was put together over a weekend. The result? Thousands of visitors. Hundreds of signups. Very few paying customers. Not because the product wasn't valuable. Because people couldn't immediately understand its value. Here's how a typical budget looks for many early-stage startups: $50k+ on product development $20k on marketing campaigns $15k on paid acquisition $10k on infrastructure $5k on branding Almost nothing on conversion optimization. It's like spending millions building a luxury hotel... ...and leaving the front entrance unfinished. Your landing page is your first salesperson. It works 24/7. It never takes a break. And it decides whether your marketing budget becomes an investment... Or an expense. Here's what happens when conversion is ignored: • Visitors don't understand your offer. • They don't trust your product. • They postpone making a decision. • Your cost per acquisition increases. • Your ad campaigns look "broken." So the team responds by buying... More traffic. Which only sends more people to the same leaky funnel. That's not scaling. That's accelerating the leak. The highest-performing AI startups think differently. Before increasing traffic, they ask: → Is our value proposition crystal clear? → Can someone understand our product in under 10 seconds? → Does every section reduce friction? → Have we removed every unnecessary click? → Are we giving visitors enough reasons to trust us? Because growth isn't just about getting attention. It's about earning action. A 2% increase in conversion often creates more revenue than a 20% increase in traffic. Without spending another dollar on ads. The smartest founders don't obsess over getting more visitors. They obsess over helping more visitors become customers. Because sustainable growth isn't built on bigger marketing budgets. It's built on better buying experiences. If you had to choose just one, what would you improve first? A) More traffic B) Better conversion I'd love to hear your reasoning.

We are thrilled to share that Sorin Investments is leading the INR 30 Cr round in Kily. 🚀 Commerce today is increasingly run by algorithms, but most brands still rely on fragmented tools and manual workflows to optimise for marketing, pricing, inventory and competitive positioning. Kily is solving this with autonomous AI agents that continuously execute these commerce decisions, helping brands operate at algorithmic speed across digital commerce. What stood out to us was the team's deep expertise across commerce, advertising and AI, combined with an execution-first product that we believe represents the next wave of enterprise software. We are excited and privileged to partner with Sankalp Mehrotra, Anurag Narain Singh and Sharad Chitlangia, as they build and scale Kily into the AI execution layer for modern commerce. Sanjay Nayar Angad Banga Subeer Monga Ruchita Jasani Sumedh Deshpande #Kily #AI #AgenticAI #EnterpriseAI #DigitalCommerce #VentureCapital https://lnkd.in/d46Fk4Hm

Content for AI Startups: Don’t Just Sell. Educate, Inspire & Build Trust. For AI startups, great content can turn complex technology into simple, relatable stories that attract the right audience and build credibility. Here are 8 content ideas to get started: 🎓 Educate your audience 💡 Showcase real AI solutions 📊 Share insights, trends & data 🎬 Create videos & demos ❤️ Share customer success stories 👥 Show your team & behind-the-scenes 🧠 Build thought leadership 💬 Engage and start conversations Great content builds trust. Trust builds your AI brand. What type of content works best for your AI startup? #AIStartups #AIContent #ContentMarketing #StartupMarketing #ArtificialIntelligence #BrandBuilding #DigitalMarketing #B2BMarketing

Funding Round: telli Raises $15M Seed to Build the AI Operating System for Customer Operations Customer operations remain one of the biggest challenges for businesses. Companies receive millions of conversations across phone calls, WhatsApp, chat, and email — but managing those interactions efficiently requires large teams, complex processes, and significant resources. telli wants to change that. The Berlin-based AI startup has raised $15 million in Seed funding to build AI agents that automate customer-facing operations for B2C companies. The round was led by redalpine, with participation from Cherry Ventures, Y Combinator, Mutschler, and strategic investors. Founded in 2024 by Finn zur Mühlen, Philipp Baumanns, and Seb Hapte-Selassie, telli is building AI-powered customer operations agents capable of handling conversations across voice, WhatsApp, chat, SMS, and email. The company was born from the founders’ experience scaling customer operations at Enpal, where they saw firsthand how difficult it was for businesses to deliver fast, personalized customer experiences at scale. telli’s platform helps companies automate repetitive customer interactions while allowing human teams to focus on more complex conversations. The company says its AI agents have already handled millions of customer conversations for companies including Sky, Viessmann, Enpal, Vaillant, 1KOMMA5°, and Clark. The new funding will support global expansion, product development, and the continued rollout of AI agents for customer-facing teams. As businesses move toward AI-native operations, telli believes customer experience will increasingly be powered by intelligent AI teammates working alongside humans. Congratulations to Finn zur Mühlen, Philipp Baumanns, Seb Hapte-Selassie, the telli team, redalpine, and all investors. Follow The Startup Times for daily startup funding, AI, enterprise software, and deep tech news.

𝐀𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬. They need to be visible in the publications their customers and industry actually read. When I research an AI/SaaS company, I look at: → What they're building → Who they're trying to reach → What conversation they're already part of → Which publications cover that conversation Then I build the outreach strategy around the company's growth opportunity. 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 > 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡-𝐃𝐑 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞. #AI #SaaS #DigitalPR #PublisherOutreach #LinkBuilding #TechMarketing

🚀 Why are more AI founders launching on GetAiTool? Every AI founder dreams of building the next breakthrough product. But here's the reality... A great product without distribution rarely wins. I've spoken with many founders who spent months building incredible AI tools, only to struggle with one thing: Getting their first real users. That's exactly why I built GetAiTool. Our goal isn't just to list AI tools. It's to help founders launch, get discovered, and grow. Here's what makes GetAiTool different: 🎯 Your First Real Users Your tool is showcased to 20,000+ people actively searching for AI solutions, helping you gain meaningful exposure from day one. 🚀 Instant Boost We invest in promoting featured launches through homepage placements, category pages, and search visibility so your product gets noticed. 📬 Newsletter Exposure Selected launches are featured in our AI newsletter, putting your product directly in front of thousands of AI enthusiasts, founders, and professionals. ⭐ Premium Positioning Stand out with featured badges, priority placements, and sponsorship opportunities that increase visibility and trust. 📈 Traffic That Doesn't Die Unlike launch platforms where visibility fades after a day or two, your GetAiTool listing remains searchable and discoverable over time—giving your product ongoing opportunities to be found. 🌍 Distribution Beyond the Directory We're continuously expanding how we promote AI products through partnerships, communities, social media, and newsletters to help founders reach a wider audience. As the Founder of GetAiTool, my vision is simple: Every great AI product deserves a chance to be discovered. Whether you're an indie hacker launching your first project, a startup introducing a new AI product, or an established company expanding your reach, GetAiTool is built to help you connect with the audience that matters. This is just the beginning. We're building one of the fastest-growing platforms for AI discovery—and we're excited to have builders from around the world join us on this journey. If you're building something amazing with AI, I'd love to feature it. 👇 What's the biggest challenge you're facing right now? Getting users? Marketing? SEO? Distribution? Funding? Something else? Let's talk in the comments. I personally read every response. — Anish Raj Founder, GetAiTool #AI #AITools #Startup #SaaS #Founders #BuildInPublic #IndieHackers #ArtificialIntelligence #GenerativeAI #ProductLaunch #TechStartup #Entrepreneurship #Growth #Marketing #Innovation #Developers #AIStartup #GetAiTool #LaunchYourStartup #FounderJourney