The investment comes as businesses increasingly adopt artificial intelligence to improve customer support while managing rising operating costs.

Founded in South Africa and operating across South Africa and the UK, Cue provides customer service software to more than 500 companies in industries including automotive, retail, insurance, financial services, and education.

The platform combines AI-powered automation with human support, enabling businesses to manage customer interactions across multiple digital channels from a single system.

Cue said the new funding will be used to develop the next generation of its AI agents, grow its international presence, and deepen integrations with enterprise systems.

The company is also investing in voice technology and enhanced security as businesses demand AI tools that can automate more complex customer service tasks while meeting enterprise compliance requirements.

“It’s an exciting time of transformation for the company,” said Richard Nischk, Chief Executive Officer of Cue.

“We’re at an inflection point for AI in customer service, and we see more businesses starting to realise that they need a unified platform to succeed, not a patchwork of point solutions.”

Nischk said companies are facing increasing pressure to improve customer experience while controlling costs, making automation a growing priority.

“Rising costs have put support teams under pressure to do more with less,” he said.

“At the same time, consumers want self-service but are increasingly frustrated by poor automated experiences. Our goal is to help businesses deliver a genuinely great automated experience, while also recognising that escalating to a human is often the right thing to do.”

The investment reflects continued investor confidence in enterprise software companies developing practical AI applications for business operations.

While funding across Africa’s technology sector has moderated from its 2021 and 2022 highs, investors have continued backing startups that generate recurring revenue and address clear enterprise productivity challenges.

Cue reported annual recurring revenue growth of more than 160% in its latest financial year and now processes more than 500 million customer messages and conversations each year across its platform.

Knife Capital said Cue represents the type of enterprise software company positioned to benefit from the rapid adoption of AI across customer-facing industries.

“Customer service remains the lifeblood of every enduring business,” said Keet van Zyl, Founding Partner at Knife Capital.

“As AI reshapes enterprise software, the winners will be companies that enhance human capability rather than replace it. Cue has built a platform that delivers measurable value today, led by a team with the vision, technical depth and execution ability to be a category leader. That’s exactly the type of business Knife Capital looks to back.”