Will Bodewes
Co-founder & CEO, Phonely
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Phonely
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The D1 Athlete Who Built a $100M Voice AI Company | Will Bodewes, Phonely (YC S24)About Phonely
Phonely builds AI agents that answer and handle business phone calls, and also work across chat and SMS, for customers ranging from small businesses to large contact centres. Former PhD researchers Will Bodewes and Nisal Ranasinghe started it in 2023 as a spinout from an AI research group at the University of Melbourne. Phonely is now based in San Francisco, with technology operations in Melbourne. It raised a US$16 million Series A led by Base10 Partners in April 2026.
- Sector
- Voice AI agents for call centres
- Business model
- B2B SaaS (subscriptions with per-minute usage)
- Founders
- Will Bodewes, Nisal Ranasinghe
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, US
- Offices
- San Francisco, Melbourne
- Latest round
- US$16M Series A, led by Base10 Partners (Apr 2026)
- Total raised
- US$19M (2026)
- Customers
- TSA Group, Etech Global Services, Engage CX
Sources: capitalbrief.com, phonely.ai
The people on Day One.
Hear from the team.
Milestones.
- Founded as a University of Melbourne spinoutstartupdaily.net
- Raised US$500K from Y Combinatorsmartcompany.com.au
- Raised US$16M Series A led by Base10 Partnerscapitalbrief.com
In the news.
- Capital Brief · 16 April 2026Phonely raises USD16m to scale AI agents that outbook human call centre staff
- Startup Daily · 16 April 2026Y Combinator-backed AI call receptionist raises $22 million Series A
- SmartCompany · 31 May 2024Neural Notes: Phonely's US$500,000 boost sets the tone for AI receptionists
Backed by.
Base10 Partners, Y Combinator, TSA Group, Etech Global Services, Engage CX.
Sources: capitalbrief.com
Thinking of working at Phonely?
Hear how the team works in their own words, then see the open roles.
Spot something wrong? Suggest a correctionUpdated 29 October 2026
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