Australia-based data analysis software provider Hyper Anna has raised A$16m ($12.7m) in series A funding from investors including insurance firm Insurance Australia Group (IAG), Australian Financial Review reported yesterday.
IAG’s strategic investment arm, IAG Ventures, was joined in the round by Reinventure, the venture capital firm funded by financial services firm Westpac, as well as VC firms Sequoia Capital China, which led the round, and AirTree Ventures.
Founded in 2015, Hyper Anna has created an artificial intelligence-equipped data analysis platform that can provide detailed input for sales, marketing and business operations, and which can be interacted with in the same way as virtual assistants such as Apple’s Siri.
Westpac and IAG are both among the company’s customers. Natalie Nguyen, Hyper Anna’s co-founder and CEO, told AFR the funding would go to hiring staff to support the launch of a Hong Kong office next month which will be the base for its Asian expansion plans.
Reinventure and AirTree Ventures had provided $960,000 in seed funding for Hyper Anna in October 2016. Steven Ji, a partner at Sequoia Capital China, will join the startup’s board of directors on connection with its series A investment.