South African Startup Cue Raises $5 Million to Accelerate AI Development
The South African startup Cue has just raised $5 million to accelerate the development of its artificial intelligence agents capable of handling customer requests from start to finish on WhatsApp, social media, the web, email, and soon voice. The operation was officially announced by the company on July 14, 2026.
Funding Round Led by Knife Capital and FAM Investments
Co-led by the funds Knife Capital and FAM Investments, this funding round is expected to enable the company to accelerate its international expansion while strengthening the capabilities of its AI platform, particularly in the areas of security, enterprise software integrations, and voice interactions.
About Cue
Founded in 2015 in Cape Town, Cue initially made a name for itself with its WhatsApp conversation management solutions. Today, its ambition is much broader: to transform customer service by entrusting an increasing part of exchanges to autonomous agents capable not only of answering questions but also of executing concrete actions without human intervention.
Platform Usage and Capabilities
The platform is already used by over 500 companies in South Africa and the UK, across various sectors such as finance, insurance, commerce, automotive, and education. Each year, it processes over 500 million conversations between brands and consumers. According to Cue, its first-generation AI agents already resolve more than 60% of customer requests in a fully autonomous manner.
Next-Generation AI Agents
The next generation will go further. Companies will be able to delegate tasks such as checking the status of an order, scheduling an appointment, sending a payment link, qualifying a prospect, or automatically updating a CRM to AI. If human intervention becomes necessary, the conversation is transferred to an advisor with the entire context already available, avoiding the need for the customer to repeat their problem.
