{"id":1224,"date":"2026-07-12T13:39:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T13:39:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=1224"},"modified":"2026-07-12T13:39:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T13:39:52","slug":"apurva-shrivastava-mit-engineer-turns-missed-calls-into-a-billion-dollar-ai-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=1224","title":{"rendered":"Apurva Shrivastava: MIT engineer turns missed calls into a billion-dollar AI company |"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-132343608,imgsize-869652,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/how-this-indian-origin-mit-engineer-built-an-8000-crore-company-from-missed-calls.jpg\" alt=\"How this Indian-origin MIT engineer built an 8,000-crore company from missed calls!\" title=\"Apurva Shrivastava (Image generated using AI)\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"Apurva Shrivastava (Image generated using AI)\">Apurva Shrivastava (Image generated using AI)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Take a look at your phone right now. How many missed calls do you see? For most of us, that\u2019s just a number sitting on the lock screen. But for Apurva Shrivastava, an Indian-origin man, that number turned into a business model from which he built a company now valued at close to 8,300 crore rupees.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"2\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>Meet Apurva Shrivastava, the <keyword id=\"37519874\" type=\"Denny\" weightage=\"20\" keywordseo=\"MIT-engineer\" source=\"keywords\">MIT engineer<\/keyword> who built a career on missed calls<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>Apurva Shrivastava grew up in Michigan, where his parents ran a small business. As a teenager, he would help them. It was during this time that he noticed how every missed call was a job walking out of the door. The customer would call someone else and, just like that, it would affect their business.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"5\"\/>Shrivastava studied computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 2022, he co-founded Avoca with Tyson Chen, a fellow MIT graduate whom he met during a poker night. <!-- -->Chen\u2019s mother ran an acupuncture practice in Pennsylvania, and he also knew what a missed call meant for business. They had both lived different versions of the same problem as children answering phones for family businesses that could not afford to lose a single lead.<!-- --> So they attempted to build an AI answering service for restaurants. \u201cWhen a restaurant misses a phone call, that\u2019s a $30, $40 order,\u201d Chen told Fortune. \u201cWhen a home service business misses a phone call, that could be a $30,000\u2013$40,000 HVAC install they\u2019re missing. So, instantly, we thought: \u2018Wait, this is a completely different order of magnitude.\u2019\u201d They spent an afternoon with Rescue Air and realised that, if they could solve this problem, it could be massive. In 2023, they built a product specifically for Rescue Air, which helped Shrivastava and Chen land their first customers.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"14\"\/>The company builds AI voice agents for home service businesses, such as plumbers, electricians, HVAC technicians and roofers. According to Shrivastava, they make up what he calls the physical economy. Instead of calls going to voicemail or a hold queue, the AI agents pick up instantly. They are built to sound convincingly human, so you will not suspect a thing. What actually sets the product apart is the integration underneath it.<!-- --> The AI does not just take a message. It checks a company\u2019s live calendar, books the appointment directly into the system, and follows up on old quotes that were never signed. That is the kind of follow-through most small contractors do not even have the staff to manage.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"19\"\/>According to Fortune, the company has raised more than $125 million over the last couple of years, valuing it at $1 billion.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"21\"\/>In 2025 alone, the HVAC industry was worth about $50 billion, with a projection of $75 billion by 2032. <!-- -->\u201cThis is a huge growth moment in the home services economy,\u201d Shrivastava told the publication. \u201cAll these stories are coming out now that basically say, \u2018with all that\u2019s happening in AI, the next million-dollar job is the job of a plumber, the job of a technician\u2026 What Avoca has realised is that these people are the main characters.<!-- --> No AI wave is replacing the job of a technician, at least in the next five years.\u2019\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"26\"\/>Interestingly, the whole company was built on the same instinct Shrivastava learned as a child in Michigan: answer the phone. Someone on the other end needs something.<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/etimes\/trending\/how-this-indian-origin-mit-engineer-built-an-8000-crore-company-from-missed-calls\/articleshow\/132343531.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Apurva Shrivastava (Image generated using AI) Take a look at your phone right now. How many missed calls do you see? For most of us, that\u2019s just a number sitting on the lock screen. But for Apurva Shrivastava, an Indian-origin man, that number turned into a business model from which he built a company now [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1225,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/how-this-indian-origin-mit-engineer-built-an-8000-crore-company-from-missed-calls.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/how-this-indian-origin-mit-engineer-built-an-8000-crore-company-from-missed-calls.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/how-this-indian-origin-mit-engineer-built-an-8000-crore-company-from-missed-calls.jpg","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/how-this-indian-origin-mit-engineer-built-an-8000-crore-company-from-missed-calls.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/how-this-indian-origin-mit-engineer-built-an-8000-crore-company-from-missed-calls.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/how-this-indian-origin-mit-engineer-built-an-8000-crore-company-from-missed-calls.jpg","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/how-this-indian-origin-mit-engineer-built-an-8000-crore-company-from-missed-calls.jpg","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/how-this-indian-origin-mit-engineer-built-an-8000-crore-company-from-missed-calls.jpg","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/how-this-indian-origin-mit-engineer-built-an-8000-crore-company-from-missed-calls.jpg","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/how-this-indian-origin-mit-engineer-built-an-8000-crore-company-from-missed-calls.jpg","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/how-this-indian-origin-mit-engineer-built-an-8000-crore-company-from-missed-calls.jpg","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/how-this-indian-origin-mit-engineer-built-an-8000-crore-company-from-missed-calls.jpg","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/how-this-indian-origin-mit-engineer-built-an-8000-crore-company-from-missed-calls.jpg","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/how-this-indian-origin-mit-engineer-built-an-8000-crore-company-from-missed-calls.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"Apurva Shrivastava (Image generated using AI) Take a look at your phone right now. How many missed calls do you see? For most of us, that\u2019s just a number sitting on the lock screen. But for Apurva Shrivastava, an Indian-origin man, that number turned into a business model from which he built a company now [&hellip;]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":7,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":3,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/how-this-indian-origin-mit-engineer-built-an-8000-crore-company-from-missed-calls.jpg",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/how-this-indian-origin-mit-engineer-built-an-8000-crore-company-from-missed-calls.jpg",300,169,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/how-this-indian-origin-mit-engineer-built-an-8000-crore-company-from-missed-calls.jpg",150,84,false]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"<a href=\"#\" class=\"category-link category-link-31\">\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}