Kleiner Perkins-Incubated Voice AI Startup Keplar Wants to Disrupt Market Research With a Chatbot

In a world where public opinion can turn as much on trending hashtags and social media algorithms as the spoken word, knowing what people really think has become an urgent business need. A secretive market research firm — Realeyes, a recipient of Facebook and government research grants — was used to glean insights about voters. But those approaches can be slow and expensive — and outdated by the time results are turned around.

Here comes Keplar, a voice artificial intelligence (AI) startup backed by well-known venture capital investor Kleiner Perkins, which may just be able to rewrite how market research is conducted.

A New Wave of Consumer Insight

Keplar’s goal when founded was simple yet ambitious: to change the way companies listen to their customers.

Rather than mailing out questionnaires or assembling in-person panels, Keplar records and analyzes real-time voice interactions. This includes:

• Call center recordings
• Product feedback hotlines
• Live conversations on social audio platforms

Leveraging advanced natural language processing (NLP) and sentiment analysis, Keplar transforms these spontaneous discussions into actionable intelligence—faster and more accurately than traditional methods.

“Voice is the most natural way humans express themselves,” said Maya Srinivasan, Keplar CEO and cofounder, in an interview earlier today. “People give more away when they talk than if you give them a survey. Our tech leverages that realness, so brands can truly understand what customers are not just saying but feeling.”

The Power of Voice Data

Keplar’s platform pulls in vast amounts of voice data and analyzes:

• Trends
• Emotional undertones
• Hot topics

This method involves more than keyword matching. Its algorithms pick up on subtleties such as hesitation, excitement, or irritation in a speaker’s tone—nuances often lost when answering surveys or analyzing text-based data.

Example: A major beverage company partnering with Keplar discovered that customers cared more about sustainability than product flavor. The clue wasn’t in explicit statements but in subtle changes to their voices when discussing packaging and recycling. Using this insight, the company shifted its marketing to promote eco-friendly initiatives, resulting in a notable increase in brand loyalty.

Kleiner Perkins’ Vote of Confidence

Backing from Kleiner Perkins, a marquee Silicon Valley venture capital firm, lends credibility to Keplar’s aspirations. Famous for early bets on Google, Amazon, and Slack, Kleiner Perkins has a history of identifying disruptive technologies ahead of the curve.

“Keplar’s voice-first approach to market intelligence is the final frontier of customer understanding,” said a Kleiner Perkins partner in a statement about the funding.

Though deal terms were not disclosed, industry sources estimate the investment is significant enough to accelerate product development and expand Keplar’s engineering and data science teams.

A Faster, Cheaper Alternative

Conventional market research often takes weeks or months, involving:

• Complex survey creation
• Participant enrollment
• Time-consuming analysis

It’s also expensive, with large companies spending millions annually on third-party research firms.

Keplar’s AI-driven model claims to deliver results in near real-time and at a lower cost. This speed is crucial in sectors like consumer electronics or fashion, where trends shift rapidly.

“The differential of getting insight in two days versus two months can mean millions lost in revenue or opportunities missed,” noted marketing analyst Priya Khanna.

By continuously monitoring voice data streams, Keplar enables brands to adjust strategies almost as quickly as consumer desires change.

Privacy and Ethical Considerations

Keplar’s groundbreaking technology raises important privacy and consent concerns. Voice conversations and recordings—even if publicly available—are sensitive.

Keplar asserts its commitment to strong privacy standards:

• Processes only consented data
• Uses anonymization techniques to safeguard identities

“We’re committed to responsible AI,” said Srinivasan. “Our customers are responsible to make sure the voice data we analyze conforms with privacy laws such as GDPR and CCPA. Transparency, as well as decent behavior, are our absolute values.”

Industry experts caution that innovation and privacy must be carefully balanced. With regulators cracking down on how companies collect and use personal data, a misstep could seriously harm public trust.

Competition and Market Landscape

Keplar is entering a crowded space. The market is still dominated by traditional firms like Nielsen and Ipsos, while other AI startups focus on text-based analytics or social media monitoring.

Yet Keplar’s emphasis on voice sets it apart.

“Voice data is an untapped goldmine,” said Raj Mehta, a tech venture analyst. “While plenty of companies can sort through written reviews or social media posts, very few have figured out real-time voice analysis at scale. If it continues to innovate, Keplar’s technology could give it a big advantage.”

Keplar also benefits from the global rise of voice interfaces such as smart speakers and customer support bots, which generate more audio data than ever before.

Applications Beyond Marketing

While Keplar aims to disrupt market research, its technology could reach far beyond brand strategy. Potential uses include:

• Healthcare: Measuring patient satisfaction or detecting early signs of stress and depression
• Finance: Tracking customer sentiment during critical service calls
• Government: Assessing public sentiment on policy decisions in real time

“At our core is the mission of understanding human emotion through voice. Market research is only the beginning,” Srinivasan noted.

The Road Ahead

Keplar plans to use Kleiner Perkins’ investment to:

• Strengthen AI models
• Enhance multilingual capabilities
• Expand international customer accounts

The startup is also exploring integrations with major customer relationship management (CRM) platforms, enabling businesses to incorporate voice insights directly into existing workflows.

Challenges remain, including:

• Scaling AI models to handle diverse accents, dialects, and background noises
• Convincing traditional market research buyers to adopt a new approach and proving long-term reliability

Even so, with rapid growth and high-profile backing, Keplar is poised to help write the next chapter in consumer intelligence. If successful, it could redefine how companies listen to their customers—turning everyday speech into a powerful engine of insight.

A Voice-Driven Future

The rise of Keplar highlights a broader shift: unstructured human speech is becoming a critical source of data. As voice technology becomes more widespread, the ability to interpret spoken language with emotional depth may soon be as important to business strategy as web analytics or social media metrics.

For brands eager to stay ahead of changing consumer expectations, Keplar offers a compelling promise: real-time, genuine insight into customer feelings without the delays of traditional research.