Vivo Ventures backs Inner AI, eyeing 1.8M small-business customers
What's the deal? Inner AIDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Brazilian artificial intelligence startup, has raised a seed extension from Vivo VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the corporate venture arm of telecoms operator VivoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The amount was not disclosed.
Why now? The round comes six months after Inner AI's US$7.67M seed in April, co-led by Canary and ONEVCDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, which valued the startup at about US$127.9M. The company says its combined funding reached US$10.7M before Vivo's entry.
The product: Vivo's investment targets Squad.com, Inner AI's platform of autonomous AI agents built for small and medium businesses. It works as a team of specialists: Maky handles marketing, Waz runs sales and support over WhatsApp, and Fin manages finances, alongside agents for legal, HR, and operations.
What's the endgame? Vivo and Inner AI are exploring whether to offer Squad.com through Vivo's digital services for SMEs, potentially reaching the operator's 1.8 million small-business customers. "The AI is changing not just products and services, but how companies operate and create value," said Phillip Trauer, director of Vivo Ventures and Wayra BrasilDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → (translated from Portuguese).
Founded in 2023 by Pedro Salles, Inner AI counts EmbraerDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Vivo, SabespDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and BayerDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → among its clients. In 2027, the startup and Vivo will tour Brazil to bring the agents to entrepreneurs at Vivo stores along the BR-116 highway, starting with three cities in the Southeast.
What could go wrong? The commercial arrangement is still under discussion and the investment amount was not disclosed, so the scale of any eventual rollout remains uncertain.
The signal: The deal fits Vivo Ventures' enlarged US$120.2M fund and its sharper focus on AI, making this more than a conventional top-up. "Small businesses are 99% of Brazil's companies," said Salles. "Vivo has unique distribution in the country."
Read more: startups.com.br
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
