Kata.ai, a conversational Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing (NLP) startup, has secured an undisclosed amount in Series B funding, led by Taiwan-based Trans-Pacific Technology Fund (TPTF) and MDI Ventures.
Alongside this, Kata has also unveiled its new product QIOS, a social commerce platform that allows small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to use and integrate AI technology in their sales process through chat-based applications such as WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger.
“We will allocate the Series B funding acquired to expand Kata.ai’s business and services to the commerce, healthcare and insurance technology industries,” said Irzan Raditya, Kata.ai’s CEO and Co-founder.
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“This year, our focus is to develop QIOS, which aims to help SMEs expand their sales network and improve the customer shopping experience. The QIOS app initiative was inspired by the condition of SMEs in Indonesia, especially with the current pandemic, where we notice up to 70 per cent decrease in sales for SMEs,” Irzan added.
“We hope that QIOS can help SME entrepreneurs develop their business with the help of AI and automation technology,” he continued.
Kata.ai develops AI technology in understanding human conversation to allow better interaction between humans and computers. Its NLP has been used to create chatbots for companies and other stakeholders in Indonesia, including Telkomsel, Indosat Ooredoo, Bank BRI, Pertamina, Blue Bird Group, OVO, Midtrans, Warung Pintar, Healthcare and Social Security Agency, Ministry of Education and Culture, and Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.
As per a report, social commerce platforms are predicted to have a significant role in online commerce sales in Indonesia. McKinsey predicts that by 2022 the total Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of social commerce in Indonesia will reach 25 billion US dollars.
As QIOS is based on chatting apps such as WhatsApp, which has more than 125 million users in Indonesia, QIOS allows SME merchants to target large potential market shares with a new approach.
The QIOS platform is also currently connected to e-wallet and e-payment apps such as OVO, GoPay, LinkAja and DANA, as well as online courier platforms such as GoSend and GrabExpress to help the QIOS platform users in their business.
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Kata Platform has processed more than 700 million conversations and three million monthly active users who interact with chatbots created by Kata Platform.
During the pandemic period, the number of conversations that took place also accelerated significantly, with growth reaching 3 times the number of normal conversations.
“We are grateful and proud of our achievements. Apart from obtaining Series B funding, Kata.ai has also recorded consistent growth in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) for three consecutive years, namely the 2018-2020 period,” noted Irzan.
In August 2017, Kata.ai had raised US$3.5 million in Series A funding round, led by TPTF.
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