This is the deep dive into Slang AI’s $36M Series B, led by U.S. Venture Partners. Slang AI partnered with USVP because of their experience scaling category-defining companies at the stage Slang AI is in today: when a product has demonstrated clear revenue impact, is embedded in daily operations, and becomes core infrastructure for operators. USVP has backed and helped scale companies including Box, HotelTonight, Yammer, and Nuance, all useful tools that evolved into systems businesses rely on every day.
USVP’s experience building operational platforms and expanding them into broader systems aligns closely with Slang AI’s next phase of growth as it expands from voice into the AI Superhost for hospitality. They bring an operator-focused perspective, a strong customer orientation, and deep experience scaling infrastructure-level software. Rick Lewis of USVP will join Slang AI’s board as part of the Series B.
The round also reflects strong conviction from existing investors, with 100% participation from prior backers, including Homebrew, Wing VC, Underscore Capital, Stage 2 Capital, Active Capital, and Collide Capital.
The Series B also includes strategic founders and operators who have helped shape Slang AI’s approach to hospitality, software, and scale, including Claire Hughes Johnson, former COO of Stripe, and Thayer Investment Partners, an investor focused on travel and hospitality technology.
Hospitality operators are increasing AI investment rapidly. Industry data shows 8 out of 10 restaurant executives plan to increase AI spend this year, and 94% of operators say AI is critical to staying competitive.
The question we hear from operators has evolved from “Why would I use AI in my restaurant?” to “How can I use AI in my restaurant?”
Restaurants, hotels, and venues rely on inbound demand to fill tables, book private events, and drive catering revenue. That demand arrives through phone calls, voicemails, emails, and web forms. A large share never ends up booking.
What’s happening in practice:
The result is simple:
Most operators don’t realize how much demand is leaking because:
Slang AI ensures every guest inquiry is handled immediately, qualified correctly, and routed into your systems, 24/7.
Slang AI:
This gives operators:
Slang AI turns your hosts into superhosts - capturing demand, converting it into bookings, and freeing teams to focus on service.
Slang’s AI Superhost is designed to handle complex and delicate guest conversations that can determine a guest’s choice of one restaurant over another. That level of sophistication is powered by our proprietary dataset: 25M calls from 10M+ unique guests across 2,000+ locations, built since 2019.
Those conversations teach Slang AI how guests actually communicate: how they phrase requests, when they hesitate, where confusion tends to occur, and what makes an interaction feel smooth and reliable. We use these insights to improve accuracy, timing, tone, and clarity so the experience feels natural and understands intent quickly.
Every call makes the Superhost smarter, creating a compounding advantage that improves conversion, accuracy, and guest experience across every restaurant on the platform.
"Slang AI has built something incredibly rare: a proprietary dataset from 25 million real guest interactions that gives them an insurmountable advantage in understanding how people actually communicate with restaurants. Customer satisfaction at 95%+ is almost unheard of in enterprise software - these operators genuinely love the product. When you combine that kind of data moat with deeply delighted customers, you're looking at a category-defining company."
“Slang AI has fundamentally impacted our business. Before Slang, we were missing calls, reservations, and private event leads that our team couldn’t get to in time. Now those opportunities are captured automatically, and guests who might have booked elsewhere are booking with us. It has delivered meaningful, measurable results, while removing constant interruptions so our staff can stay focused on delivering the highest value human interactions.”
This Series B allows us to bring the Superhost to every restaurant even faster, and to make it more personal, more proactive, and more intelligent.
Slang will proactively reach out to guests to help them rebook, remind them of upcoming occasions, and ensure restaurants stay connected to their most valuable relationships automatically.
Slang will remember more about every guest, bring them back through thoughtful outreach, and give operators real-time insight into their guest experience and performance.
We’re also expanding our engineering, product, and go-to-market teams to meet demand, and scaling our partnership ecosystem to create a more seamless experience for operators.
Slang AI was founded in 2019 by Alex Sambvani and Gabe Duncan. We build enterprise-grade AI for hospitality that improves revenue capture, elevates guest experience, and expands operational leverage for teams.
Slang’s Superhost answers every call with precision, warmth, and professionalism, books reservations, handles inquiries, routes high-value requests, and recognizes returning guests, so restaurant staff can stay fully present with the guests in front of them.
Interested in joining us? Check out our open roles here.
