A second-time founder graduated from Y Combinator with a new AI financial services startup. Read her pitch deck.

Eloquent AI, a promising startup emerging from Y Combinator, has successfully secured $7.4 million in seed funding aimed at transforming customer service within the financial services sector through advanced AI technologies. The company’s innovative AI platform is designed to streamline intricate and regulated workflows, including the onboarding of new clients and the unfreezing of bank cards. Co-founded by Tugce Bulut, a seasoned entrepreneur who previously established the market research firm Streetbees, Eloquent AI marks her second venture. Following her departure from Streetbees two years ago, which ended with the company entering administration, Bulut has teamed up with Aldo Lipani, a machine learning professor at University College London. The duo connected at a conference in 2023, where Bulut was captivated by Lipani's insights on managing AI's unpredictable behavior. The seed funding round, led by Foundation Capital with contributions from EJF Ventures, Duke Capital Partners, Zeno Ventures, and Y Combinator, was completed in an impressive three days, achieving an oversubscription rate of 12 times. Bulut attributes this remarkable success to her experience as a second-time founder and the growing investor interest in specialized verticals that develop tailored AI models for financial applications. With these new resources, Eloquent AI plans to enhance its engineering team based in San Francisco and broaden its service offerings, which include critical tasks like sanctions screening to ensure compliance and mitigate risks for banks. Currently, the startup employs 10 staff members and aims to initiate another funding round early next year. Eloquent AI operates using a proprietary large language model named Oratio, specifically designed for financial compliance. This technology analyzes screen recordings of workflows submitted by human operators, allowing the AI to replicate their actions. Additionally, technical teams can implement operational guardrails, ensuring all actions are logged for auditing purposes. The startup is already partnering with various banks and fintech companies, including financial assistant Cleo, OakNorth Bank, and insurance provider Vouch, while maintaining a waitlist of 154 potential clients. Notably, Eloquent AI achieved $500,000 in annual recurring revenue within just four weeks of operations. Their business model involves selling monthly credits based on anticipated usage, with clients only billed for successful operations. A glimpse of the pitch deck that facilitated their funding acquisition reveals the company’s strategic approach and future aspirations.