Cape Town Startup Cue Secures 5 Million USD to Scale Hybrid AI Customer Service Platform Globally

Cape Town-born customer service platform Cue has secured 5 million USD, equivalent to 82 million ZAR, in its largest funding round since its launch in 2015. The primary funding round was co-led by South African venture capital firm Knife Capital and FAM Investments.

The SaaS company will utilize the newly acquired capital to build out its second-generation AI agents and expand its market reach. Funding will also support deeper investments in voice infrastructure, security compliance, and enterprise integrations with systems like CRM and ERP.

Scaling Autonomous Customer Interactions

Cue currently supports over 500 companies across South Africa and the United Kingdom. Its client base spans diverse sectors including automotive, retail, insurance, finance, and education.

The platform processes more than 500 million customer messages and conversations on an annual basis. In its latest financial year, Cue achieved an annual recurring revenue growth of over 160 percent.

According to company data, its first-generation AI agents autonomously resolve over 60 percent of customer interactions without any human intervention. The technology operates across multiple communication channels including WhatsApp, webchat, email, Messenger, USSD, SMS, and voice.

Expanding Engineering and Global Footprint

With remote teams spread across five countries, Cue employs over 40 staff members in ten cities, including London, Cape Town, Lisbon, Johannesburg, Manchester, Bloemfontein, Helsinki, Gqeberha, and Delhi. The company is registered in both London and Cape Town, with its South African office located at 12 Loop Street in Cape Town.

The startup plans to expand its sales and marketing efforts to target larger enterprise clients. Differentiating itself from point-solution vendors, the company aims to offer a cohesive platform that addresses the security and compliance needs of large-scale businesses.

Richard Nischk, co-founder and chief executive officer of Cue, noted that businesses are realizing the need for a unified platform rather than a patchwork of isolated point solutions. The company claims its platform can help clients grow sales, cut service costs by up to 73 percent, and boost response rates by 40 percent.

The Hybrid Philosophy of Customer Support

Despite its focus on automated resolution, Cue advocates for a hybrid model that combines artificial intelligence with human support. The platform is designed to be automation-first but not automation-only.

When an issue requires complex problem-solving, the AI agent hands the conversation over to a unified inbox and ticketing desk. This handover includes the full context of the interaction, allowing human agents to focus on high-value, relationship-defining conversations.

Nischk highlighted that rising operational costs have pressured support teams to operate more efficiently. Meanwhile, consumers seeking self-service options are frequently frustrated by poor automated experiences, making a balanced approach essential.

Whether Cue can successfully maintain its high automation efficiency while scaling its hybrid agent model into the highly competitive UK and European enterprise markets remains the key development to watch.