Olelo Intelligence, a Honolulu-based startup creating an AI sales coaching platform specifically for high-volume automotive repair shops, has secured $1 million in angel funding to improve its product and expand deployments across North America. Hawaiʻi Angels led the financing round with a $500, 000 investment, with Clif Purkiser acting as the deal lead for the group. Olelo’s platform analyzes service advisor phone calls in real time to detect missed sales opportunities and provide coaching insights to managers, aiming to increase call conversion rates into booked appointments and approved services—all without requiring extra staff. In addition to daytime coaching, clients have adopted after-hours AI phone agents that capture leads when staff are unavailable. The company announced the round closed in fall 2025 and has since grown to over 100 active shop locations across 62 franchisees, including a nationwide partnership with AAMCO Transmissions & Total Car Care. Olelo shared early results from a multi-location operator showing about a 15% revenue increase per store, which amounts to roughly $20, 000 more monthly per location. This growth came from better awareness of missed calls and faster recovery of lost opportunities. Investors cited early adoption, revenue momentum, and strong market potential as main reasons for backing Olelo, referencing the $190 billion U. S. auto repair industry and its fragmented network of nearly 300, 000 service locations nationally. Olelo’s current focus is to expand beyond initial franchise and independent repair shops while enhancing product features and extending its go-to-market reach throughout the U. S. and Canada. The fundraising also highlights Olelo’s roots in Hawaiʻi’s startup scene. The company participated in the Blue Startups Accelerator before attracting investment from Hawaiʻi Angels and expanding beyond the state.

Founded by CEO Miki Hardisty, a technology and operations expert formerly National CTO at Jack in the Box and CTO and COO at ProService Hawaiʻi, Olelo’s leadership team also includes co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer Ed Moore, who has led billion-dollar sales organizations. KEY QUOTES: “What stood out to us about Olelo was the execution. The company demonstrated strong customer adoption, early revenue, and clear momentum. Furthermore, this is a huge market. The U. S. auto repair sector is $190 billion and growing, with increasing complexity to manage. ” — Clif Purkiser, Deal Lead, Hawaiʻi Angels “Within about two months, we saw roughly a 15% increase in revenue per store, about $20, 000 a month per location. Olelo gave our managers visibility into missed calls and the ability to recover deals quickly. This was something we couldn’t achieve with any generic solution before. ” — Multi-Location Automotive Franchise Operator “Service advisors are the heartbeat of every shop, but they juggle many tasks and often don’t know what’s working during calls. The best advisors want to improve—we show them exactly where revenue is slipping away and how to reclaim it. Completing our angel round in fall 2025 enabled us to deepen the product and rapidly scale results that were already measurable. This industry is built on trust. We aim to help solve their enablement challenges, but we won’t stop there. It’s a large market ripe for expansion. ” — Olelo Intelligence spokesperson