Leader Acclaim Launches U.S. Operations Backed by $34 Million

Voice-first AI platform for regulated industries targets banking, insurance, and healthcare markets across the Americas from its new South Florida base

MIAMI, FL, March 31, 2026 — Enterprise artificial intelligence company Acclaim — formerly known as Aiphoria — formally entered the U.S. market this week, designating Miami as its global headquarters and cementing South Florida’s growing reputation as a destination for regulated-industry technology. The expansion is anchored by a $34 million Series A funding round and the appointment of AI veteran Fred Fontes as Chief Executive Officer.

The announcement positions Miami at the center of Acclaim’s worldwide commercial strategy. The new office will house all customer-facing operations — sales, marketing, and customer success — while the company’s distributed engineering team continues to operate across Europe and beyond. With approximately 75 employees globally, Acclaim is already hiring aggressively in South Florida, with open roles spanning account management, sales development, customer success, and marketing.

What Is Acclaim’s Platform and How Does It Work?

Acclaim builds voice-first AI agents purpose-engineered for enterprises operating in compliance-intensive sectors: banking, insurance, fintech, and healthcare. Unlike general-purpose AI chatbots, Acclaim’s platform is designed to execute complete end-to-end business workflows — recovering payments, resolving service disputes, driving sales conversations, and automating high-volume customer interactions — all within strict regulatory guardrails.

The GOAL Framework: AI That Completes Tasks, Not Just Conversations

At the core of the product is Acclaim’s proprietary GOAL (Goal-Oriented Agent Logic) framework, which enables AI agents to pursue defined business outcomes rather than simply engage in dialogue. Built-in compliance controls prevent off-script language, deliver required regulatory disclosures, and maintain fully auditable interaction trails. The platform supports on-premises and private cloud deployment — a critical requirement for financial institutions and healthcare organizations subject to strict data residency and sovereignty rules. It is fully regulation-ready under U.S., UK, and EU AI frameworks.

“Everyone is racing to deploy AI agents, yet no customer wakes up hoping to speak with a robot. I’m invested in Acclaim because it closes that gap. Acclaim delights customers, accelerates sales, and safeguards compliance from day one.”

— Ratmir Timashev, Co-Founder of Veeam Software and Acclaim Series A Lead Investor

Why Miami? The Strategic Case for South Florida

For Acclaim, the choice of Miami is both operational and strategic. South Florida attracted $4.13 billion in venture capital for Miami-area startups in 2025, according to the eMerge Americas Insights report released in late March 2026, making it one of the fastest-growing technology corridors in the country. The region’s dense concentration of financial services firms, gateway access to Latin American markets, and deep bilingual talent pool align directly with Acclaim’s target customer verticals.

Building in Coral Gables, Connecting Across the Americas

CEO Fred Fontes, who has lived in the Miami area for five years, is actively evaluating office space in Coral Gables. He describes the regional density of financial services firms and Latin American partners as a core competitive advantage. Fernando Bertolla has been appointed as VP for Latin America to accelerate partnerships in the region, including early collaborations with fintechs such as Banco Plata.

“Part of the reason we’re excited about locating our headquarters here is that density of customers and partners here to work with. The objective is for Miami to truly be our global headquarters.”

— Fred Fontes, CEO, Acclaim

Proven at Scale: The TBC Uzbekistan Case Study

Acclaim’s U.S. launch is not a market bet made from scratch. The company reports it has already powered billions of customer interactions for enterprises in financial services. Its most publicly detailed deployment involves TBC Group, the London Stock Exchange-listed banking conglomerate whose digital banking arm, TBC Uzbekistan, has more than 23 million registered users.

90% of Delinquency Calls Handled by AI Agents

By the end of 2025, TBC Uzbekistan was using Acclaim’s platform to handle 90 percent of early-stage delinquency calls and process approximately 100,000 monthly sales interactions through AI agents. The collaboration also supported the development of Uzbek-language large language models and speech technology — described by TBC Uzbekistan CEO Nika Kurdiani as “one of Central Asia’s most ambitious AI projects.”

Leadership Team and Global Expansion

Fontes brings deep credentials at the intersection of enterprise operations and applied AI. Before joining Acclaim, he served as Chief Customer Officer at Replicant, a voice AI pioneer, and held leadership roles at Aera Technology, a decision intelligence platform. He also advised Fortune 500 executives on AI transformation strategy at McKinsey & Company.

New Executives Strengthen EMEA and Cybersecurity Functions

In parallel with the U.S. launch, Acclaim is deepening its European presence. Paul Thomas, formerly SVP and General Manager at NICE Ltd., joins as SVP of EMEA to accelerate regional growth and strengthen the company’s European partner ecosystem. Chris Gould — a former partner at EY and PwC with nearly 40 years of cybersecurity experience and previously an Executive Partner at Gartner — has been appointed as Chief Information Security Officer to lead compliance and data governance strategy globally.

What Does Acclaim’s Miami Expansion Mean for South Florida’s Tech Ecosystem?

Acclaim’s arrival is part of a broader migration of enterprise software and AI companies to South Florida. Miami has increasingly positioned itself as a business-friendly alternative to Silicon Valley, offering lower corporate taxes, access to international talent, and proximity to Latin American capital flows. Acclaim joins a wave of tech relocations that collectively placed the Miami area among the top-funded startup markets in the U.S. in 2025.

For enterprises in regulated industries evaluating AI adoption, the company’s deliberate, compliance-first approach addresses what remains the sector’s most persistent barrier. As Fontes put it: “There’s still a lot of hesitation from organizations — jumping in with both feet feels new, it feels foreign.” Acclaim’s response is a platform built from the ground up to answer that hesitation with auditability, control, and measurable results.

About Acclaim

Acclaim (formerly Aiphoria) is a voice-first AI customer experience platform purpose-built for enterprises in regulated industries including banking, fintech, healthcare, and insurance. Its proprietary GOAL (Goal-Oriented Agent Logic) framework enables enterprises to deploy AI agents that resolve service issues, recover payments, support sales, and automate high-volume interactions — all within strict compliance and data governance frameworks. The platform supports on-premises and private cloud deployment and is regulation-ready under U.S., UK, and EU AI standards. Acclaim is headquartered in Miami, Florida, with distributed engineering operations across Europe. For more information, visit www.acclaimai.com.

Media Contact: press@acclaimai.com

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