London-based startup Gradient Labs has raised over €11 million in Series A funding to expand its AI-powered customer service platform tailored for regulated industries. The round was led by Redpoint Ventures, with additional backing from Localglobe, Puzzle Ventures, Liquid 2 Ventures, and Exceptional Capital.
At the heart of Gradient Labs’ offering is Otto, a procedural AI agent designed to handle complex customer service operations—far beyond the scope of typical frontline chatbots. Otto learns the intricacies of company-specific workflows, policies, and products, making it particularly suited to sectors like banking and insurance, where compliance and accuracy are critical.
“We’ve spent nearly a decade automating support and financial crime processes at a major UK bank,” said Dimitri Masin, co-founder and CEO of Gradient Labs. “In regulated environments, the cost of mistakes is massive. This investment reflects growing demand for AI that is both reliable and safe.”
Gradient Labs was founded in 2023 by a team of Monzo alumni — Dimitri Masin, Neal Lathia, and Danai Antoniou — who brought deep experience in scaling operations at one of the UK’s most prominent neobanks. Their product is already gaining traction: just three months after launch, Gradient Labs onboarded nine enterprise customers, including one of Europe’s largest banks.
“Gradient’s team knows this space better than anyone,” said Alex Bard, Managing Director at Redpoint Ventures. “Their customer adoption metrics, combined with their founder-market fit, made this an easy decision.”
Customer service has long been a pain point for regulated industries. While demand for instant, high-quality service is rising — 66% of customers expect a response within minutes, and 1 in 3 will switch brands after a single bad experience — delivering it at scale is costly and labor-intensive. The average cost per support interaction can hit €11.5, and 87% of agents report high stress levels.
Gradient Labs aims to change that. According to internal data, Otto can resolve up to 90% of customer inquiries, achieve a 98% QA pass rate, and cut support costs by up to 75%.
Tom Blomfield, former Monzo CEO, added:
“I’ve seen first-hand how Gradient’s technology helps regulated businesses meet high expectations without sacrificing compliance. Their approach is purpose-built for industries that can’t afford to get customer service wrong.”
With fresh capital in hand, the startup plans to scale its engineering, go-to-market, and customer success teams, while doubling down on R&D to push the boundaries of safe, compliant AI in enterprise settings. As demand for operational automation continues to grow, Gradient Labs is positioning itself as a frontrunner in the next wave of industry-specific AI tools.
