$20M for conversational-AI builder in warming market

If a voice-industry startup’s conversation tool works as well as it is being billed, the $20 million series A round it just closed will be proven a bargain for the investors.

The company, Voiceflow, makes a drag-and-drop interface that conversational-AI developers can use to create customized, multi-channel scripts for voice assistants and chatbots. Voiceflow now has netted $23 million in funding, according to company statements.

It is a good time to invest in products that make sophisticated conversational-AI and voice recognition products easier to roll out. The global market for voice biometrics alone is predicted to grow severalfold by 2026.

Felicis Ventures led the latest round. Also participating were Amazon’s Alexa Fund, Google’s Assistant Fund, Craft Ventures, Ripple Ventures and others. The money will, in part, go to create products that further streamline conversational-AI development.

The company’s self-named tool is designed to speed prototyping, and it has built-in natural language processing and natural language understanding for unguided testing.

Voiceflow claims 75,000 “conversation designers, developers and teams” are using its software. They can use it to build for channels including Amazon’s Alexa, and Google’s Assistant as well as third-party chatbots and mobile assistant apps; and custom assistants.

A MarketsandMarkets report projects that voice biometrics will have expanded from $1.1 billion in 2020 to $3.9 billion in 2026.

In April, Uniphore closed a $140 million D series. The company makes call center voice biometrics, AI and machine learning software for businesses.

Article Topics

AI  |  funding  |  investment  |  speech recognition  |  voice biometrics  |  voice recognition