Gradient Labs has raised £2.8 million seed funding to build an operating system of artificial intelligence agents that automate manual, repetitive work.
The London startup, founded last year, has been backed by LocalGlobe and a string of high-profile angels.
They include Gloria Baeuerlein (Puzzle Ventures), Monzo co-founders Tom Blomfield and Jonas Templestein, Gideon Valkin (Andrena Ventures & former Monzo commercial director), Mike Hudack (Sling Money CEO, former chief product officer at Monzo and former CTO/CPO at Deliveroo), Akhil Paul, Declan Kelly, Thilo Konzok and Tristan Thomas (former Monzo VP).
Its first focus is customer support automation. It claims its autonomous AI agent can resolve up to 80% of customer queries – including using actions and account data – enabling companies to scale the customer experience with minimal human staff.
Gradient Labs’ approach is to supervise, evaluate and course-correct these agents, rather than relying on AI as a mere co-pilot.
“The product caters to companies that aim to offer exceptional customer support and want a guarantee of good customer outcomes rather than a ‘best effort’ automation,” it said.
It currently has eight design partners across FinTech, InsurTech, online marketplaces, food delivery, travel and cryptocurrency.