Newo appoints Jason Luo as Chief Executive Officer

Newo has appointed Jason Luo as Chief Executive Officer following its USD $25 million Series A funding round.

The San Francisco-based company said Luo will lead its expansion through managed service providers, VoIP providers and software integration partners. Newo sells AI voice and text agents for small and medium-sized businesses that handle customer enquiries across phone calls, SMS, web chat and messaging platforms.

The appointment comes as businesses in sectors including dental care, restaurants, home services and cleaning look for ways to reduce missed inbound calls. According to Newo, small businesses in the US miss between 20% and 40% of inbound calls because of staffing limits, busy periods and out-of-hours demand, while industry research suggests as many as 62% of calls to small businesses go unanswered.

In industries where a booking or service request can be worth hundreds or thousands of dollars, that missed demand can have a direct revenue impact. Newo is positioning its products around that problem, offering AI systems that answer, route, book, qualify and escalate customer interactions.

Before joining Newo, Luo held senior roles at software businesses backed by private equity. His previous positions included chief revenue officer at Actabl, following the merger of four hospitality software companies, and chief executive officer of ALICE after its spin-out from Expedia.

He has also held roles at Mastercard, Kellogg and Alpine Investors. Newo believes that experience will help the company move from early commercial traction to a more structured expansion model.

"Newo has reached a stage where execution and scale matter more than vision alone," said David Yang, Co-founder of Newo. "Jason brings the operational leadership discipline, go-to-market acumen, and AI platform experience required to capture a massive market opportunity. As demand for AI voice accelerates, our partners will be central to how this technology is deployed across industries."

Luo said the company will focus on expanding distribution through partners that already serve small businesses. That channel strategy is central to Newo's plan to widen adoption rather than relying mainly on direct sales.

"Small businesses live and die based on customer growth, yet most still lose leads simply because no one picks up the phone," said Luo. "AI voice has moved beyond experimentation and is becoming operational infrastructure. Our focus is scaling Newo through our partner ecosystem, enabling MSPs, VoIP providers, and software platforms to deliver fully integrated AI agents that capture every opportunity across every channel."

More than 15,000 AI agents have been created on Newo's platform, and the company has built a network of more than 200 certified partners. It is also preparing to enter the European market as part of its broader expansion.

Sector focus

Early sales have centred on industries with heavy inbound call volumes and limited staff availability. Dental and orthodontic practices, for example, often face pressure during peak periods and after hours, while restaurants can lose orders when callers encounter hold times. Home services and cleaning companies face a similar issue when staff are on site and unable to answer phones.

Newo's products include AI Receptionist, AI Front Desk and AI Call Centre tools. The system is built around what the company describes as a Zero-Hallucination Architecture, using multiple AI agents in parallel to verify responses and support booking, routing and escalation workflows.

The company said revenue doubled in the final two months of 2025 as adoption rose among dental, restaurant and home services customers. Total capital raised now stands at about USD $32 million, according to Newo.

Growth plan

The new funding is earmarked for product development, partner expansion and a deeper focus on industry-specific use cases. Newo is betting that software providers, telecoms resellers and service firms with existing small-business relationships will offer a faster route to market than a direct-only approach.

Luo framed the opportunity around practical business use rather than experimentation with AI tools.

"It's a golden era for SMBs. AI is more accessible and practical than ever. An AI receptionist is not just another tool, but rather, a reliable team member that can extend coverage beyond business hours, handle peak workloads, and take routine calls off staff plates, all while integrating with existing channels and workflows. The result is tangible value for both managers and employees. With Newo, our partners are delivering a fully configured agent after a one-hour onboarding call," he said.

He also gave a more specific target for the product's commercial impact. "A hyper realistic AI agent can be deployed in less than five minutes, increasing SMB revenue by 15-20%," said Luo. "Our job is to make it easy for our partners and customers to realize the power of this revolutionary technology."