Austrian-born Zoovu, a leading artificial intelligence (AI) digital sales assistant platform, recently announced that it has raised $14 million in Series B funding led by Target Global and Beringea, the latter of which previously led the Series A round.
The company will use the funds to drive further growth and expand into APAC, as well as increase investment in AI and behavioural analytics to drive human-level experiences across digital channels. With this round, Zoovu has received a total of $25 million in funding to date.
As part of the round, Zoovu announced that Rytis Vitkauskas, Venture Partner at Target Global, will be joining the company’s Board of Directors. Vitkauskas has served as a founder, angel investor and venture capitalist for more than a decade and will help drive Zoovu’s continued growth and expansion.
“Zoovu is rapidly becoming the foundational provider of digital assistant software for the world’s leading brands and marketplaces, including Amazon, Canon, Coty and Wilson,” said Vitkauskas. “We were impressed by Zoovu’s traction and growth in vertical markets and by the focus of its leadership team on building a future-thinking, seamless and intuitive SaaS platform. We are confident that Zoovu is well-equipped to simplify the shopping journey and are eager to continue supporting their ongoing growth.”
“The digital world has enabled businesses to deliver products and services at a scale that provides unparalleled choice to consumers,” added Eyal Malinger, Investment Director, Beringea. “However, many consumers are left struggling to know how to navigate the choices in front of them. This symptom is known as ‘choice paralysis,’ which leads to poor brand experience, poor conversion rates, high returns and loss of consumer trust.”
“Zoovu’s digital assistants – driven by artificial intelligence – guide customers through the decision-making process as if they were having an insightful conversation with a member of staff,” continued Malinger. “Zoovu therefore significantly improves brand experience, increases conversation rates and reduces returns.”
“Brands are quickly realizing that the typical customer persona is vastly different now than it was even just a few years ago, and they’re being forced to adapt to a unique generation of consumers by adopting new technologies and engagement strategies,” said Rob Mullen, CEO, Zoovu.
He added, “Zoovu is dedicated to alleviating these challenges by providing advanced behavioural data, which customers can take advantage of to differentiate themselves, allowing brands to deliver more personalised and engaging customer experience. Our most recent funding round will be instrumental in helping us carry out this mission while bolstering our continued software innovation efforts and growth within the Asian market.”
Zoovu is partnered with premium Fortune 100 brands, serving over 60 million consumers a year, across more than 300 categories including consumer electronics, healthcare, banking and telecommunications.
Now headquartered in New York and London, the company has trained digital assistants across 300+ categories, including consumer electronics, healthcare, banking and telecommunications, and is used by over 150 premium brands and retailers in over 80 countries and across more than 40 different languages.
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