Company Overview
About Hey Telo
Hey Telo is a Berlin-based AI voice agent company building phone-answering and administrative automation specifically for Germany's 1 million+ independent craftsman businesses (Handwerksbetriebe) — HVAC technicians, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and other skilled trades — who lose significant revenue daily to unanswered calls and administrative burden. A Y Combinator-backed startup, Hey Telo provides voice AI agents that answer calls professionally 24/7, schedule appointments, and provide quotes while the craftsman is on-site working.
Business Model & Competitive Advantage
Hey Telo's voice AI is tuned for the German craftsman use case: the AI handles incoming calls in German, identifies the service need (repair, installation, quote request), checks availability, schedules appointments, and captures customer details — all in a conversational flow that customers often do not recognize as AI. For craftsmen who miss 30-40% of calls while working on-site (calls that go to voicemail and are lost to competitors who answer), Hey Telo provides a 24/7 virtual receptionist that costs a fraction of a human employee and never misses a call.
Competitive Landscape 2025–2026
In 2025, Hey Telo competes in the AI voice agent and home services automation market in Germany with Telnyx (programmable voice infrastructure), Vapi (US-focused voice AI), and traditional answering services for German handwerker phone automation. The German Handwerk market is unusually fragmented — 1 million+ independent businesses, mostly owner-operated with 1-10 employees, represent a massive long-tail market where administrative automation provides direct revenue impact. German language voice AI (supporting German dialects and trade-specific vocabulary) is a technical barrier to US-based competitors. Y Combinator's backing reflects confidence in the European SMB voice AI market. The 2025 strategy focuses on expanding the German craftsman customer base, building the job management integration (connecting phone intake to scheduling and invoicing), and exploring expansion to other German-speaking markets (Austria, Switzerland).
Company Timeline
Major milestones in Hey Telo's journey
Leadership Team
Meet the leaders behind Hey Telo
Daniel Grittner
Christopher Grittner
Open Positions
Reddit Discussions
Key Differentiators
Emerging Innovator
Hey Telo is an emerging player bringing innovative solutions to the Home Services market.
Frequently Asked Questions
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