CPE News Brief (7.15.2022) – Proto Research has raised $5.6 million in Series A funding led by Mucker Capital with participation from current shareholder Yolo Investments.
Founded Curtis Matlock and Albert Zhuang, Kitchener, Ontario based Proto Research is a provider of inclusive chatbots and multilingual contact centre automation. Enterprises and governments use Proto’s AI Customer Experience (AICX) platform to ensure local-language service, long-term operational efficiency, and consumer protection.
photo credit: Proto Research
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Proto raises $5.6M Series A to accelerate global expansion
The Proto team is delighted to announce that it raised a $5.6M Series A round led by Mucker Capital for the global expansion of its AI Customer Experience (AICX) solutions. The round also had participation from current shareholder Yolo Investments.
In the midst of crises that have been especially hard on people in the emerging world – we believe it’s more important than ever for organisations to prioritise inclusion as their guiding principle. Here’s how Proto is doing this with its conversational AI deployments from Ghana to the Philippines.
Thanks to our customers
Back in 2018 at National Taiwan University, Albert and I launched Proto to improve the performance of chatbots for native speakers in the emerging world.
Since then, we’ve helped governments and enterprises from industries such as financial services and healthcare reach customers in local languages like Hindi, Kinyarwanda, Tagalog and Twi – as well as common mixed-languages like Taglish and Manglish.
Today, Proto is the leader for inclusive chatbots and multilingual contact centre automation.
We can’t thank our customers enough for their trust and partnership in improving machine learning for local languages. Together, we’ve deployed chatbots that have improved the inclusion and protection of customers that otherwise face long wait times, unresolved cases, and limited language and channel support.
Why this investment?
Mucker Capital Investor Joe Tsai said: “The growth of mobile and internet adoption in the emerging world is stunning, and this continued trend is inevitable. However, due to poor support for their native languages, billions of people are still cut out from critical digital services. Proto’s multilingual, industry-relevant machine learning models and conversational chatbots can unlock greater inclusivity at a massive scale while generating significant ROI for the institutions that adopt it. We are thrilled to support Proto’s mission and partner with Curtis, Albert and the entire team.”
Yolo Investments General Partner Tim Heath said: “Proto’s great innovation is to use the power of AI to improve the customer experience. The use cases for chatbots are wide-ranging and varied, but ultimately any business serious about offering best-in-class customer support to its users around the world should be exploring this technology. Proto is already leading the pack, and we have absolute confidence in the team to continue to push forward this game-changing field.”
What’s next?
The Proto team has four immediate priorities:
HermesAI™ will open to developers via API to share Proto’s proprietary machine learning models for low-resourced languages with the widest possible base of consumers. This will include capability for automated speech recognition (ASR) & text-to-speech (TTS), leveraging domain-specific data from Proto’s largest deployments.
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Regulator chatbots for more countries to strengthen financial inclusion and consumer protection across industries, in coordination with organizations like the University of Cambridge’s SupTech Lab, BFA Global, and the African Development Bank.
Free livechat and sample chatbots to help multilingual contact centres lean into customer support automation with the best cost and quickest implementation time.
Team expansion into new regions where Proto’s AICX solutions can make a real difference. Proto’s growth is only possible with its 95% BIPOC and 50% female team from the same countries as our customers. If you’re interested in joining our global community, check out the available roles.
Curtis Matlock is CEO of Proto. He leads globally distributed teams to achieve social impact and growth objectives in emerging markets. To reach Curtis, please write to him at curtis@proto.cx.