Former Voxpro founder Dan Kiely has joined the board of directors of AI start-up Momntum as the company seeks to transform customer support.
The AI start-up is focused on growing its next generation customer relationship platform, integrating AI with an “emotionally intelligent” AI system powered by a proprietary Relationship Language Model. Known as Laila, it can manage real-time conversations across phone, email, WhatsApp, Instagram, and other platforms.
Laila supports more than 700 languages and has an 85.4 per cent success rate across millions of interactions, the company says. It is designed to replace fragmented support systems with context-aware engagement that adapts to each customer, driving efficiency, customer loyalty, and improving customer experience.
Momentum was founded in January by Brian Kenny, Keith Wealleans, Kieran Sexton and entrepreneur Pat Phelan. Among the partnerships it has signed are deals with Mr Phelan’s Sisu Clinic and security company Action24.
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The appointment of Mr Kiely to the board is seen as a pivotal move for the company. which is seeking to expand its business following a €1 million funding round backed by Act Venture Capital and Sure Valley Ventures earlier this year.
Mr Kenny said the appointment was “a huge validation” of the company and what it was building.
“It’s a major signal to have somebody of Dan’s calibre join our board. He completely understands our vision where we’re going, and understands that our vision is not a step change within the customer experience world. We’re not here to take what’s currently being built and add an extra layer on top of it. We’re here to reimagine it from the ground up,” he said.
Mr Kiely’s Voxpro, which he established with Linda Green-Kiely in 1995, grew to be a global customer support player before Telus Digital acquired a majority stake in the company for €150 million in 2017.
The company subsequently bought the remaining shares in Voxpro, and Mr Kiely stepped down as chief executive in 2019.
He said Momntum’s work was intriguing to him, following his own extensive experience in the customer support business.
“I’ve been there, I’ve done it. I loved it, but that journey has come to an end. But there’s always been a kind of an itch in me to disrupt something,” he says. “When I came across Momntum, I thought this company is doing something completely different. Everybody says AI, but saying it and doing it are two different things. Momntum and what it’s doing really intrigued me. I think we can make a difference.”
Mr Kiely has since cofounded private family office MASV.com, and has backed start-ups and growing companies such as Johnson Hana, Manna Drone, ProtexAI, Solidroad, Barespace and Sisu Clinic and Limbo, another of Mr Phelan’s businesses.
Mr Kiely has also been heavily involved with mentoring growing companies.
“VoxPro wouldn’t have been where it was, where it got to without help from people along the way who mentored or offered advice. I get a lot of satisfaction from doing that,” he said.
“It’s not about making money in any shape or form. I do it for just for pure enjoyment and satisfaction seeing the entrepreneurs succeed, and helping them scale.”
