Arini

What do they actually do

Arini provides an AI receptionist for dental practices that answers inbound phone calls, has a natural conversation with patients, books or changes appointments, sends confirmation texts, and writes directly into the practice’s calendar. Their demo shows the full call flow and SMS confirmation behavior Arini demo.

It connects to common dental practice‑management systems and phone systems so it can read availability, apply scheduling rules (e.g., new vs. existing patients, block scheduling, after‑hours), and hand off to a human when a case is too complex Dentrix integration note Mango Voice guide product/blog overview.

The company reports that customers see fewer missed/abandoned calls and higher booking rates; one case study cites sub‑3% abandonment and a 27% lift in scheduled appointments, and their LinkedIn copy claims they handle 15,000+ calls daily (self‑reported) case study/blog LinkedIn.

Who are their target customer(s)

• Solo private‑practice dentist: Loses time and new patients when calls go to voicemail or after hours, and lacks staff to handle peak times or apply complex scheduling rules consistently Arini demo/product overview small‑practice scheduling.
• Owner/manager of a small multi‑location dental group: Struggles to keep intake and booking consistent across offices, spends heavily on hiring/training receptionists, and sees uneven schedule utilization that hurts revenue schedule utilization.
• DSO or enterprise operations leader: Needs centralized, measurable intake (fewer missed calls, consistent rules) and robust PMS integrations; manual or outsourced call handling is costly and hard to audit at scale YC/company page.
• Front‑desk receptionist/patient‑care coordinator: Overwhelmed by high call volume and constant interruptions, must juggle phone and scheduler tools, and can’t keep up during peak times or after hours without burnout product/blog overview.
• Revenue‑cycle/billing administrator (early adopter for future features): Spends time on manual insurance eligibility and follow‑ups; missed confirmations and no‑shows reduce collections and appointment conversion RCM/eligibility roadmap.

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Hands‑on pilots with local solo practices and small groups: founders/implementation team integrate with the office’s phone/PMS (e.g., Dentrix, Mango Voice), run live calls, resolve edge cases, and turn outcomes into brief case studies demo/docs Dentrix Mango Voice.
• First 50: Systematize onboarding and expand channels: convert the pilot checklist into playbooks, drive referrals, and run co‑sold pilots via phone/PMS partners and regional associations using a few measurable case studies to shorten cycles implementation materials.
• First 100: Move upmarket to multi‑location groups/DSOs with an outbound sales motion: offer multi‑office pilots, ROI reporting and SLAs, expand PMS/billing integrations, list on partner marketplaces, and attend trade shows to generate qualified leads YC/company roadmap.

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

There are 135,333 dental practice establishments in the U.S., per ADA HPI (sourced to U.S. Census County Business Patterns) ADA HPI. Canada has about 17,500 employer establishments classified as Offices of Dentists (NAICS 6212) ISED/Statistics Canada.

Bottom-up calculation:

Assuming ~153,000 dental offices across the U.S. and Canada and pricing of $300–$600 per location per month, annual TAM is roughly $550M–$1.1B (153k × $300–$600 × 12).

Assumptions:

• Focuses on U.S. and Canada only; excludes other regions.
• 100% penetration used for TAM; SAM/SOM would be a subset (e.g., PMS‑integrated practices, English‑speaking coverage).
• Pricing assumed at $300–$600 per office per month based on typical AI receptionist/front‑desk software ranges.

Who are some of their notable competitors

• TrueLark: Dental‑focused AI receptionist handling calls, texts, and web chats with real‑time scheduling via PMS integrations; positions for multi‑location consistency and analytics product integrations.
• Dentina.ai: Dental‑only AI receptionist emphasizing quick onboarding, appointment booking depth, after‑hours coverage, and turnkey PMS integration; site includes performance claims site.
• Rondah.ai: Targets DSOs/multi‑site groups with a centralized dashboard for calls and appointment outcomes across locations; marketed as HIPAA‑compliant with enterprise analytics overview.
• Viva AI (GetViva.ai): Broader front‑desk automation platform beyond call answering, including voice+SMS, payments, forms, and practice‑optimization features; positions as a front‑office system vs. a pure receptionist features comparison.
• Smith.ai: Generalist answering service with an AI‑first option plus human backup; commonly used by small businesses/practices wanting hybrid automation with live agent escalation Smith.ai AI receptionist.