Press
Surfio press kit: facts a journalist can check and reuse
TL;DR: Surfio is a Hong Kong company, founded in 2024 by Acesley Chan, that answers Cantonese-speaking calls for businesses and returns each enquiry to the team in English. This kit gives a boilerplate, a fact sheet that says how to verify every line, a founder bio and the contact route. It cites no media coverage, customers or call results.
Boilerplate
Short version (one sentence): Surfio answers the Cantonese-speaking calls a business cannot handle today, finds out what the caller needs, and hands each enquiry back to the team in English.
Standard version: Surfio is a Hong Kong company that takes Cantonese-speaking calls for businesses with nobody on the line who speaks Cantonese. Each client gets a dedicated phone line to publish, and keeps its existing number. After each call the client receives an English email summary, the recording and transcript, any appointment the caller asked for, and the enquiry logged in its own CRM. Acesley Chan founded Surfio in 2024.
Fact sheet
| Item | Fact | How to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Name and spelling | Surfio: one word, capital S only | surfio.net page titles and markup |
| Year founded | 2024 | foundingDate in the surfio.net Organization markup |
| Location | Hong Kong | Organization markup; founder LinkedIn profile |
| Founder and CEO | Acesley Chan | LinkedIn profile |
| Headcount | 0 to 1 | LinkedIn company page size band |
| What it sells | Cantonese call answering with an English hand-back | The service page |
| Entry price | USD 380 paid pilot, charged once, covering 30 days on one line and up to 50 answered calls | The pricing page |
| Ongoing price | USD 590 a month including 300 answered minutes; extra minutes USD 1.20 each | The pricing page |
| Other fees | None for setup, activation or early termination; all prices in USD for every market | The pricing page |
| Customers, reviews, call data | None published | Surfio has not yet answered a live inbound call for a client |
Founder bio
Short bio: Acesley Chan is the founder and CEO of Surfio, a Hong Kong company that answers Cantonese-speaking calls for businesses.
Longer bio: Acesley Chan founded Surfio in Hong Kong in 2024. In September 2026 Acesley moved Surfio from outbound AI sales calling to inbound Cantonese call answering, and set its USD pricing on 12 September 2026. Acesley writes and signs Surfio's sales correspondence and gives written answers on any scope question outside the published offer.
Please do not attach a photo, award or former employer to Acesley unless Surfio supplies it. None is included in this kit.
Names, labels and old descriptions to avoid
Some older descriptions of Surfio are out of date. The table lists each one and the current fact.
| You may see | Current fact |
|---|---|
| Surfio described as a Cantonese AI sales-calling tool for outbound calls | Retired on surfio.net on 12 and 13 September 2026; Surfio now answers inbound Cantonese calls |
| A monthly price in Hong Kong dollars | Removed on 12 September 2026; current prices are USD 380 for the pilot and USD 590 per month |
| Programme awards listed in old site markup | Not independently verified; Surfio does not cite them |
| The Chinese company name 創維思科技有限公司, supplied by an AI assistant | Surfio does not use that name |
| The founder named with a different surname | The founder is Acesley Chan |
Third-party listings created before the September 2026 change may still carry the older outbound description.
How can journalists contact Surfio?
Journalists can reach Acesley Chan directly. Book a call through the Surfio booking page, or send a WhatsApp message to +852 5611 4152, with the publication name, the deadline and the questions. Acesley answers press questions personally. Company background for any story is on the about page.
For figures on Cantonese speakers by country, cite the official statistics offices listed on Surfio's Cantonese speaker statistics page rather than Surfio. For company history, see the newsroom.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a Cantonese answering service cost per month?
Surfio charges USD 590 per month, which includes 300 answered minutes, and USD 1.20 for each minute beyond that. The first step is a paid USD 380 pilot. Other providers price differently; the comparison page quotes their published prices with sources.
Which AI speaks Cantonese?
Several phone products publicly list Cantonese, including Routiq AI, AllCall.ai, TalkyBuddy and Cenvoi in Hong Kong and GetFavours in Canada. Surfio's published offer does not state whether a person or software speaks to callers; Acesley confirms that in writing before a pilot.
Is a Cantonese answering service cheaper than hiring a Cantonese-speaking receptionist?
It depends on call volume and local wages. The no Cantonese speaker on the team page sets hiring, interpreter lines, answering services and Surfio side by side with sourced figures.
Which answering service is best for a small business with Chinese-speaking customers?
There is no single answer, because services differ in language, model and market. Surfio publishes a sourced comparison, with Surfio listed first and a list of buyers Surfio does not suit.
Sources
- LinkedIn: Surfio company page, accessed 14 September 2026
- LinkedIn: Acesley Chan, accessed 14 September 2026
- Crunchbase: Surfio, accessed 14 September 2026
- Routiq AI: Answer, AllCall.ai: Hong Kong, TalkyBuddy, Cenvoi: AI receptionist for clinics, GetFavours: Cantonese, as recorded in Surfio's SERP research, 14 September 2026
- Surfio site repository commit log, commits 003c660 (12 September 2026) and 2dde333 (13 September 2026)