Soul Machines, the New Zealand-based developer of an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered avatar creation platform, confirmed a $40m series B round yesterday featuring enterprise software producer Salesforce and carmaker Daimler.
Singaporean state-owned investment firm Temasek led the round, which included Lakestar, Horizons Ventures, University of Auckland’s Inventors Fund and unnamed existing investors.
Salesforce participated through corporate venturing subsidiary Salesforce Ventures while Daimler contributed $7m to the 2018 first tranche through its Daimler Financial Services unit, investing alongside Inventors Fund and Horizons Ventures.
Soul Machines has developed a platform for clients to generate emotionally-responsive, brand-aware avatars that exploit AI technology to interact with customers in the same way a human representative would.
The company targets sectors such as banking, healthcare, education and transport. It has set up offices in the US, UK, Japan and Australia, and will use the series B capital to drive further global expansion efforts and research and development activities.
Horizons Ventures had previously led Soul Machines’ $7.5m series A round, which included Iconiq Capital, in 2016.
Rob Keith, head of Australia for Salesforce Ventures, said: “We are proud to announce Salesforce Ventures’ investment in Soul Machines because it has an obsessive focus on improving customer experience by using artificial intelligence technology in new ways. We look forward to continuing to work with Soul Machines as it scales and realises its global aspirations.”
The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.