Internet and telecommunications group SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 led a $125m series C round yesterday for Observe.AI, a US-based developer of artificial intelligence-equipped call centre software.
Video conferencing software provider Zoom also took part in the round, as did industrial technology producer Siemens’ Next47 unit and NGP Capital, the venture capital firm funded by communication equipment producer Nokia.
The round was filled by Menlo Ventures, Nexus Ventures, Scale Ventures Emergent Ventures and Steadview Ventures, and it lifted the company’s total funding to $213m.
Founded in 2017, Observe.AI has developed technology that embeds artificial intelligence into call centres to transcribe conversations to use for training, as well as to automate repetitive processes and to gather actionable feedback from each interaction.
The capital will support further development of the company’s products, including what it calls the harmonising of real-time and post-interaction coaching, as well as helping scale it’s go-to-market strategy and geographical expansion as it works towards an initial public offering.
Next47 had alerady participated in the company’s $54m series B round, in late 2020, which was led by Menlo Ventures and which also featured NGP Capital.
Observe.AI had previously accumulated $34m from Scale Venture Partners, Nexus Venture Partners, Steadview Capital, 01 Advisors, Emergent Ventures, Liquid 2 Ventures, Hack VC and Y Combinator across rounds in 2018 and 2019.
Swapnil Jain, Observe.AI’s co-founder and chief executive, said: “Observe.AI has risen to meet this crossroads for the contact centre industry, in which the market is undergoing massive transformation. Investment in the right technologies will make or break business outcomes.
“This fresh funding is validation for Observe.AI’s leadership in product innovation and go-to-market traction as we shape a new category. We not only lead in tangible business metrics, but in our approach to actionable AI that drives value for contact centres.”
Image courtesy of Observe.AI.
