Ara

Ara is an AI-powered assistant designed to handle meeting scheduling through email. By understanding natural language and calendar availability, Ara can autonomously coordinate meetings between multiple parties, saving time and reducing the back-and-forth typically involved in scheduling.

Ara was built in collaboration with Speakup, a Dutch cloud telephony and VoIP provider founded in 2003 by Florian Overkamp. The project combines Speakup's expertise in communication infrastructure with AI-powered natural language processing to create a seamless scheduling experience. It was developed under O15Y, a venture studio founded in 2019 that builds and incubates technology companies centered around communication.

The assistant integrates with email and calendar systems to understand availability, propose meeting times, and confirm appointments—all through natural conversation. Built on the Staart framework, a Node.js backend starter for SaaS applications written in TypeScript, Ara handles the tedious coordination work so teams can focus on what matters.