AMSTERDAM / SAN FRANCISCO — Vox AI, a startup specializing in autonomous voice technology for quick-service restaurants (QSRs), has raised $8.7 million in seed funding to accelerate deployment in drive-thru lanes and open a U.S. office in San Francisco.

The round was led by Headline with participation from True, Simon Capital, and Souschef Ventures, bringing total funding to $10 million.

Drive-thru-first approach

Founded in October 2023, Vox AI was designed specifically for the fast-paced drive-thru environment, unlike general-purpose assistants retrofitted for restaurants. Its conversation-first training pipeline learns accents, slang, menu synonyms, and acoustics in real-world conditions, delivering natural and reliable ordering.

Earlier attempts at QSR AI, such as McDonald’s abandoned pilot, struggled with accuracy. Vox AI claims its platform avoids those pitfalls by being fully autonomous — no “human in the loop” — from training to deployment.

Multilingual and hardware-free

The system currently supports 90+ languages and dialects and integrates seamlessly with existing POS and restaurant systems, requiring no new hardware. Beyond drive-thru lanes, Vox AI is rolling out mobile order-ahead integration and Employee Assist, a voice tool for shift guidance and inventory alerts.

ROI and investor confidence

Early deployments with global chains have delivered up to 17x ROI by shortening queues, boosting upsells, and freeing employees to focus on food prep and guest experience. With drive-thrus accounting for up to 70% of QSR sales, even modest efficiency gains can be transformative.

“Vox AI delivers something the QSR space has never had before: autonomous, intelligent, real-time voice interaction at a global scale,” said Dominic Wilhelm, Partner at Headline.

Competitive landscape

Vox AI faces rivals including ConverseNow, Kea, and SoundHound AI, as well as adjacent players like Loman AI, which focuses on phone ordering. Vox AI differentiates itself by prioritizing drive-thru scalability and betting on noise-adaptive modeling and multilingual training to finally make conversational AI work in chaotic restaurant settings.

Looking ahead

With new funding, a U.S. presence, and reported traction with top fast-food chains, Vox AI is positioning itself as a leading contender in the race to automate the drive-thru, potentially redefining both guest experience and restaurant operations in a trillion-dollar industry.

SOURCE: Restaurant Technology News