Smart radio startup Relay raises $36M to help businesses capture vital intelligence from frontline workers

Business communications startup Relay Inc. has successfully raised $36 million in funding to capture "frontline intelligence" for enterprises. This brings its total amount raised to over $90 million. The latest funding round was led by industrial manufacturing giant International Paper Co., with participation from Cerity Partners Ventures and existing backer G2 Ventures.

Relay's technology is designed for frontline workers who spend their shifts on their feet, such as those operating production lines in factories, cleaning hotel rooms, caring for patients, responding to emergencies, and pushing trolleys around supermarkets. The startup's smart radio system allows workers to report back to their supervisors, provide critical updates, and report problems using handheld radios.

Most valuable operational knowledge at these businesses is communicated over radio waves, but it often goes unrecorded. Relay's AI system captures worker conversations in real time, transforming them into structured and queryable data that can improve business efficiency. The AI understands domain-specific jargon, ensuring critical safety issues and maintenance requests are not lost.

Relay's TeamTranslate capability provides real-time voice translation in over 30 languages, enabling seamless communication for multilingual teams. Co-founder and CEO Chris Chuang explains that this technology can help businesses gain a competitive advantage by capturing over 75% of operational data that currently remains unrecorded.

International Paper Co. decided to lead the funding round after seeing the benefits of Relay's technology firsthand, citing its ability to deliver clear, dependable communications in challenging industrial environments.