Cheerio AI raises Rs 8 Cr in seed round led by Artha Venture Fund

AI-powered customer engagement platform Cheerio AI has raised Rs 8 crore in a seed funding round led by Artha Venture Fund through its Artha Venture Fund II. 

The round also saw participation from Hyderabad Angels, TiE Angels, LetsVenture, Invention Engine and several angel investors.

The proceeds will be used to build multi-modal AI capabilities, including a proprietary small-model LLM for ad generation, expand into voice and video channels, and strengthen automation features and enterprise-grade infrastructure. 

Cheerio AI also plans to hire across engineering, AI, enterprise sales and customer success over the next six months as it prepares for global expansion.

Founded by Nishant Das, Avinash and Priam, Cheerio AI builds an AI-powered customer engagement platform designed to optimise the CAC-to-LTV equation for enterprises. The platform integrates marketing, support and sales workflows across channels such as WhatsApp, email, SMS, social messaging and in-app communication.

The startup currently works with over 150 enterprise customers across six industries and claims to have generated more than Rs 500 crore in additional revenue for clients through retention automation. The company also reported revenue growth of 450% year-on-year over the past two years.