The British Business Bank, the economic development bank for the UK, has committed £15m in investment into London-based PolyAI, a player in enterprise conversational AI, as part of an $86m funding round.
The round was co-led by growth-stage investors Georgian, Hedosophia and Khosla Ventures, with additional investment from NVentures, Nvidia’s venture capital arm, Sands Capital, an innovative growth business investor, New York and London-based growth investor Squarepoint Ventures, Citi Ventures, the start-up investor arm of Citi, and Point72 Ventures, the Stephen Cohen backed venture-capital company.
PolyAI builds advanced AI voice agents that can hold natural, human-like conversations and handle complex customer service calls, understanding intent, handle multi-step tasks like authentication, bookings or payments.
The company has over 100 enterprise customers across hospitality, retail, logistics, and financial services in 45 languages and more than 25 countries. Clients include the likes of FedEx, Marriott, Unicredit and Foot Locker.
The funding will be used to develop the proprietary technology behind PolyAI’s Agent Studio, with the goal of helping enterprises use every customer conversation to learn and grow.
“The UK has all the right components to be a world leader in AI, with strong technological talent and the venture market to back it up,” said Leandros Kalisperas, chief investment officer at the British Business Bank (pictured).
“For the UK to realise its AI ambitions, we must support fast growing AI companies like PolyAI by providing them with the capital they need to succeed and grow here in the UK. This will help to ensure we benefit from their growth and success,” he added.
Chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves, also said: “We are investing in companies like PolyAI so we can grow the economy and create good jobs. Our backing, combined with our world‑leading universities, strong private investment, and our AI Growth Zones makes the UK one of the best places in the world to build an AI start‑up.”
Nikola Mrkšić, CEO and co-founder of PolyAI, added: “This investment will kick start the next stage of our growth cycle.”
Comments