Singaporean startup Novocall has raised $500k in a seed round led by 500 Durians, the Southeast Asia-focused fund of Silicon Valley venture capital firm, 500 Startups.

Other investors for the round include 500 Startups Thailand, Expara Asia Ventures, as well as Exabytes’ founder and CEO, Chan Kee Siak.

In short, Novocall is a conversational sales plugin that can be integrated onto websites, allowing businesses to effectively convert website traffic into potential leads.

The company was founded in January 2018 by Huang Jing Jie, Jionghan Ng, and Amos Choo, former SUTD alumni who had previously received an SGD $30k grant from Enterprise Singapore.

To date, the company's services are presently used by over 2000 businesses across 42 countries, clocking in over 400,000 minutes on its platform through 100,000 calls. 

With fresh funds, the company will focus its resources on product and customer development, and subsequently expand to more markets across the Southeast Asian region.