Vienna-based AI startup fonio.ai has acquired Linz-based AI phone assistant fluently in an asset deal. With this transaction, fonio.ai integrates its largest competitor in the Austrian market to date, further cementing its leading position in Voice AI solutions.
Daniel Keinrath, CEO and co-founder of fonio.ai, said:
AI phone assistants are one of the most natural applications of artificial intelligence, and we were fortunate to start very early in the DACH market. That head start has given us tremendous momentum in recent months. The acquisition of fluently marks a major step forward. We anticipate further consolidation in the market.
Fluently, launched by Linz-based digital agency softwarebude.at, offers a conversational AI platform that manages inquiries, books appointments, and integrates with calendars and CRMs. Fully customizable to each business’s tone and compliant with GDPR and the EU AI Act, Fluently quickly became one of Austria’s leading AI phone assistant brands, serving around 450 customers and emerging as a key competitor to fonio.ai.
Moritz Weibold, Founder of fluently, explains:
We decided to sell in order to focus on further growing our digital agency. Scaling fluently in parallel would have required shifting our entire focus to the AI business. Given the speed at which technology and the market are evolving, and the pace of fonio.ai, it simply wasn’t feasible for us.
As part of the asset deal, fluently will be integrated into fonio.ai, while softwarebude.at will continue operating independently and serving its clients on fonio.ai’s infrastructure. In addition, the agency will become a strategic partner, distributing fonio.ai’s AI solutions and developing tailored automations and integrations, for example, linking fonio.ai with platforms such as HubSpot, Salesforce, or SAP.
Founded in Vienna in 2024, fonio.ai provides AI-powered phone assistants that automate customer communication 24/7. The platform answers calls, forwards inquiries, books appointments, and integrates with CRM and ERP systems, while every interaction is transcribed and can be stored, shared, or connected to existing tools.
In under a year, fonio.ai has grown to over 2,000 customers and now automates more than 800,000 calls monthly with a team of just eight. With average monthly growth of about 30%, the company is on track to reach 5,000–8,000 customers by year-end, establishing itself as the leading AI phone solution provider in the DACH region.
The market for AI phone assistants is only just beginning to take shape. As the DACH market leader, fonio.ai is playing a central role in defining it. Our next step is international expansion, with the clear goal of becoming a global player. We want to prove that it’s possible to build an international tech leader out of Austria,
concludes Keinrath.
Lead image: Matthias Reiner, Moritz Weibold, Daniel Keinrath | Photo: Kurt Keinrath
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