Reply Next, a Spanish startup developing an artificial intelligence platform for brands with multiple physical locations, has raised €400,000 in pre-seed funding. The round was led by independent fund 4Founders Capital, with participation from business angels including Juanjo Mostazo and David Alcobero.
The company said the funds will be used to strengthen its technology and sales teams, accelerate product development and build new AI agents capable of automating key processes and decisions for brands. Reply Next has recently added Tony Santana, formerly of Trivago and Tripadvisor, as Head of Sales, and Diego Martín Hernández as CTO.
The startup aims to consolidate its position as a reference platform in Spain for the digital management of businesses with multiple locations.
According to the company, brands with large networks of establishments face a growing challenge in understanding and managing thousands of digital interactions that take place every day around each location. Reviews, ratings, messages, searches, and recommendations generated on platforms such as Google Maps, Booking, App Store, Google Play, and new AI-based search engines produce daily information about each location, but that information does not always translate into concrete business actions.
“Nine out of 10 companies do not know how much revenue their stores generate through Google Maps, 70% of brands do not respond to users on public channels, and less than 10% of businesses appear in AI search engines,” said Miguel Peñate, founder and CEO of Reply Next. “Reply Next was born to close that gap and give each location the intelligence it needs to compete.”
Jesús Monleón, co-founder of 4Founders Capital, said: “Managing the digital presence of thousands of establishments is an increasingly complex challenge for brands. Reply Next offers a solution that combines technology and AI to centralize this information and turn it into actions. Miguel’s experience at Google, combined with the team’s vision of how interaction between brands, consumers and AI will evolve, convinced us of the company’s potential to grow and lead this market.”
From managing thousands of locations to making them intelligent
Reply Next describes its platform as a digital brain for each establishment; an intelligence layer that connects what happens around each location, understands it, and acts to drive growth. The platform brings together digital information and interactions associated with each establishment in one place, from listings and reviews on Google Maps or Booking to ratings and opinions on the App Store and Google Play, as well as their presence in new AI-based search engines.
Based on this information, the company says its AI agents can respond to customers, detect incidents and opportunities, monitor competitors and execute tasks automatically following each brand’s guidelines. The goal is to move from simply managing thousands of interactions to having an intelligent system that detects opportunities, anticipates problems and acts autonomously to improve each location’s visibility, attract customers and generate more revenue.
According to the company, its technology currently works with more than 2,500 brand channels and has increased store visits by 15%. Among the brands that already trust Reply Next are Air Europa, KFC and Comess Group.
Founder background
Reply Next was founded by Miguel Peñate, a telecommunications engineer with a long career in the technology industry. Before founding the company, Peñate spent nine years at Google, where he led the mobile applications area for different countries.
He previously worked in consulting at Deloitte and Accenture, developing projects related to technology and business transformation. In 2026, Forbes España included him in its selection of “The 100 Most Creative in the Business World.”
