Flai books 50,000 dealership appointments a month as revenue grows 20x

Flai, a startup that makes AI software for car dealerships, says its system is booking 50,000 appointments a month for sales and service. CEO Ari Polakof told TechCrunch that the company’s revenue has grown 20x in a year.

The company said it has raised a $27 million Series A round led by Base10 Partners. The round also included the Friedkin Group, Findlay Automotive, Toyota’s venture arm, Y Combinator and First Round Capital.

Flai’s software handles customer calls, emails and texts, runs outbound campaigns, and schedules appointments. Polakof described it as customer relationship management software built for each dealership. He said it can follow up with customers and alert dealership leaders when an issue needs attention.

Flai works with more than 10 of the country’s top 50 dealer groups, according to the company. Co-founder Juan Alzugaray said in a LinkedIn post that a luxury dealer in Puerto Rico expanded its use of the software from service calls to sales, and is rolling it out across all 8 of its stores. He said customers there switch between Spanish and English during conversations.

Polakof said the software can go live 10 days after a contract is signed. He said the team, now around 40 people, aims to respond to customers within 20 minutes at most. According to Polakof, referrals from existing dealers account for half of Flai’s revenue from new customers.