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• Crescendo co-founders Anand Chandrasekaran and Andy Lee partner with former Wix eCommerce COO Golan Agmon to launch new company
• Early OpenAI and Square investor Vinod Khosla, Celesta Capital, and the Anthology Fund are company’s early investors and shareholders
• Product designed to bring AI benefits like increased revenue and better conversions to “little tech”, helping SMBs build 1-to-1 customer relationships at scale

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — HiOctave, the AI software company helping small and mid‑sized businesses (SMBs) automate and personalize customer experiences, today announced its launch and $15M in financing, led by Vinod Khosla and Khosla Ventures. Additional investors and shareholders include Celesta Capital, Anthology Fund, operated jointly by Anthropic and Menlo Ventures, and Carya Venture Partners.

HiOctave was incubated by co-founders Andy Lee, Alorica Founder and Executive Chairman; and Anand Chandrasekaran, Managing Partner at Celesta Capital and formerly at Meta, Five9, and General Catalyst. Lee and Chandrasekaran previously co-founded Crescendo, an AI-powered customer experience platform for enterprises that combines AI and human agents. Within 20 months of founding, Crescendo has grown to $100M in revenue and delivered more than 500 agentic AI deployments for mid-market enterprise customers. Golan Agmon, previously eCommerce COO for $10B SMB software company Wix, will join HiOctave as co-founder and CEO.

SMBs make up over 90% of U.S. businesses, employ 45% of the private workforce, and generate 44% of U.S. GDP – yet, most lack modern, AI‑native tools to maintain high‑touch customer relationships at scale. HiOctave’s platform is designed to enable SMB founders and lean teams to deliver high‑touch, high‑trust customer service without high overhead, despite typically not having teams dedicated to vendor selection or deployment. The platform provides off-the-shelf customer satisfaction management for SMBs delivered in an easy-to-use, mobile-first experience, including autonomous voice and digital agents, automated quality monitoring, voice of customer analytics, and escalation tools.

“Agentic AI will transform how small businesses operate,” said Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures. “SMBs have long been underserved by traditional software. HiOctave will empower entrepreneurs to run their businesses in the era of AI, led by a team with a proven track record of bringing AI to new markets and deep experience building for small business owners.”

“We’re grateful for Vinod’s partnership and shared belief that off-the-shelf CSAT has huge growth potential within the $750B SMB software market,” said HiOctave co-founder and Celesta Capital Managing Partner Anand Chandrasekaran. “With Golan joining as CEO alongside Andy and myself, we have the foundation for a powerhouse team that blends SMB‑platform know‑how, large‑scale CX operations, and AI product leadership. We are confident HiOctave can transform customer experience for SMBs.”

“I’ve spent my career creating companies that help enterprises deliver customer support at scale,” said co-founder and Executive Chairman Andy Lee. “With HiOctave, we’re bringing together that same ethos to offer best-in-class AI to SMBs—without the enterprise price tag. We’re excited to help smaller companies automate the repetitive, elevate the human moments of engagement and connection, and more easily grow loyalty and revenue.”

“I am excited to bring my experience helping SMBs grow their online businesses and harness it for Agentic AI to reimagine how SMBs connect with their customers,” said Golan Agmon, HiOctave’s Co-Founder and CEO. “SMBs everywhere are looking for omnichannel experiences that build lasting loyalty and restore authentic relationships – we believe HiOctave can be that partner to help their businesses truly thrive.”

The new capital will accelerate product development and go‑to‑market as HiOctave delivers enterprise‑grade automation—at SMB‑friendly price points—to help business owners rebuild direct, durable relationships with their customers. Learn more at hioctave.ai.

Media Contact:
Anand Chandrasekaran, Co-Founder
anand@hioctave.ai
650.387.2744  

SOURCE HiOctave

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