Phonely
YC S24San Jose, US · Founded 2023 · Delaware corporation · 10 employees · Hiring · 7 known investors
Phonely builds AI receptionists that answer phone calls, schedule appointments, and provide customer support for businesses. The platform serves enterprises and regulated industries like healthcare that need to automate high-volume customer interactions while maintaining compliance.
Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (S24)
Phonely was founded in 2023 by Will Bodewes and Nisal Ranasinghe.
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Will BodewesinCo-founder · Chief Executive OfficerHe previously pursued a PhD in applied artificial intelligence at the University of Melbourne and founded an audio-tech startup.
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Nisal RanasingheinCo-FounderNisal Ranasinghe studied electronic and telecommunications engineering and worked as a senior engineer in the AI division of a telecommunications company before pursuing a PhD in explainable AI and healthcare AI at the University of Melbourne. He is co-founder and CTO of Phonely.
Board
CB
Investors · 7
7BC Venture CapitalSan Francisco
Transpose Platform ManagementHouston
Y CombinatorSan Francisco · $500K
Base10 Partnersreported · 2 sourcesSan Francisco · $100K – $5Mvia Caroline Broder · board
Also in the syndicate · 3
Engage CXEtech Global ServicesTSA Group
Reported raises · per SEC filings
Form D private placements$18.3M disclosed across 1 round · 2025
▶$18.3MraisedMar 2026 · 31 investors · OtherRule 506(b)
▶$18.3MraisedMar 2026 · 31 investors · Other
Rule 506(b)Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
- William BodewesExecutive Officer, Director
- Caroline BroderDirector
- Offering amount
- $18.3M
- Amount sold
- $18.3M
- First sale
- Dec 2025
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware, 2024
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
Source: SEC EDGAR Form D. Amounts as filed; amended filings shown once at their latest values.
Competitors · 10
by search overlapGoodcall84 shared keywordsGoodcall provides conversational AI phone agents that handle inbound business calls, answering common customer questions, managing appointments via calendar integrations, capturing leads into CRMs, and transferring or escalating to staff when needed. It serves businesses of all sizes, from solopreneurs to publicly traded companies, across industries.
Dialpad84 shared keywordsDialpad provides a platform that transforms customer conversations into actionable intelligence for businesses. The company serves organizations seeking to improve their operations through conversation analytics and insights.
Smith71 shared keywordsSmith.ai provides an AI Receptionist backed by optional North America-based human agents that screens calls, books appointments, handles payment collection, and updates CRMs for mid-market companies. It also offers Virtual Receptionist plans staffed by live agents available 24/7, plus call analytics and transcription dashboards.
Voiceflow Black64 shared keywordsVoiceflow provides a platform for building AI agents that handle customer interactions, starting with customer support. The company serves businesses looking to deploy conversational AI across customer-facing channels.
Callhippo61 shared keywordsCallHippo is a cloud-based business communication platform offering a VoIP phone system, call center suite, AI voice agents, conversation intelligence, and omnichannel messaging with virtual numbers in 150+ countries. It serves small businesses through enterprises across industries such as financial services, healthcare, recruitment, real estate, and legal.
Retell AI60 shared keywordsRetell AI builds an enterprise-grade voice AI platform that handles phone calls for industries including healthcare, delivery, and insurance. The platform enables businesses to automate customer-facing voice interactions.
Synthflow AI56 shared keywordsSynthflow provides a platform for building AI voice agents using a modular, API-connected builder with in-house telephony, testing sandbox, real-time call monitoring, and data fine-tuning. It targets enterprises that need to deploy and manage voice automation at scale.
CloudTalk54 shared keywordsCloudTalk provides an AI voice platform for global calling used by sales and support teams, offering features like parallel dialing, call routing, inbound and outbound AI voice agents, international SMS/WhatsApp messaging, and call analytics. Its cloud-based voice infrastructure supports numbers in over 160 countries for teams handling high volumes of customer conversations.
Lindy51 shared keywordsLindy is an AI executive assistant that manages email, schedules meetings, takes notes, and handles administrative tasks for individual professionals and teams. It integrates with email, calendar, and hundreds of third-party applications to automate workplace busywork.
Bland AI50 shared keywordsBland is an enterprise voice AI platform for building, running, and monitoring AI phone agents that handle inbound and outbound calls, replacing IVRs and staffing AI call centers. It targets regulated industries such as healthcare, insurance, financial services, and logistics, and runs on the customer's own infrastructure with compliance certifications.
Companies competing with Phonely for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
In the news
Frequently asked questions
- What does Phonely do?
- Phonely builds AI receptionists that answer phone calls, schedule appointments, and provide customer support for businesses. The platform serves enterprises and regulated industries like healthcare that need to automate high-volume customer interactions while maintaining compliance.
- Who founded Phonely?
- Phonely was founded by Will Bodewes, Nisal Ranasinghe in 2023.
- Who are Phonely's investors?
- Phonely's investors include 7BC Venture Capital, Transpose Platform Management, Y Combinator, Base10 Partners.
- How much funding has Phonely raised?
- Phonely has disclosed $18.3M raised across 1 round.
- Where is Phonely headquartered?
- Phonely is headquartered in San Jose, US.