Canada-based marketing technology developer Automat raised $8.3m in series A capital on Thursday from a consortium led by brand technology producer You & Mr Jones.
The round included mass media company Comcast’s corporate venture capital (CVC) arm, Comcast Ventures, and diversified financial services group USAA as well as Omidyar Technology Ventures, Relay Ventures and Real Ventures.
Automat has created a conversational marketing platform that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to conduct personalised, one-on-one chats with customers.
The series A cash will go toward the recruitment of additional engineering, research and product staff with the aim of accelerating the development of additional features. The capital will also support further business development, sales and marketing activities.
Automat has now secured $11m in funding to date, it said. Slack Fund, the corporate venturing subsidiary of instant communication technology provider Slack, invested an undisclosed sum in the company in July 2016.
You & Mr Jones, USAA, Relay Ventures, Real Ventures and O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, the CVC division of media firm O’Reilly Media, were already listed as investors on Automat’s website at the time of the Slack deal, though details of their past investments remain undisclosed.
Amy Banse, managing director and head of funds for Comcast Ventures, said: “We believe conversational marketing using real AI will be critical for brands in the future.
“Automat has emerged as a leader in that important new category. We look forward to supporting this talented team and helping them grow and scale.”