India-based speech recognition technology developer Uniphore received $51m yesterday in a series C round backed by Sistema Asia Fund, an investment subsidiary of diversified conglomerate Sistema.
Investment firm March Capital Partners led the round, which also included Chiratae Ventures, the venture capital firm formerly known as IDG Ventures India, as well as CXO Fund, ITP, Iron Pillar, the Patni Family and unnamed additional investors.
A report last month, which placed the size of the round at $38m, suggested the participants would include energy utility National Grid’s corporate venturing subsidiary, National Grid Partners, and IntuitiveVC, though neither appear to have contributed funding.
Founded in 2008, Uniphore has built software that helps businesses improve the performance of their customer support staff. It relies on artificial intelligence and natural language processing technologies to power voice-based services such as conversational analytics, a virtual assistant and voice authentication.
The capital will help accelerate Uniphore’s expansion efforts in North America, drive research and development activities and support recruitment across offices in the US, Singapore and India.
Uniphore received an undisclosed amount in a 2017 series B round led by John Chambers, a former chairman of networking equipment manufacturer Cisco, and backed by IDG Ventures India, financial services firm IIFL and JC2 Ventures, which acquired a 10% stake through the deal, the company said this week.
IDG Ventures India led a $2m bridge round for the company in 2016, with contributions from Indian Angel Network and YourNest Angel Fund, having already supplied an undisclosed amount of capital in 2015. YourNest and assorted angel investors had provided Uniphore’s earlier funding.
