Venture capital fund for the promotion of AI start-ups
Zendesk, provider of the comprehensive AI solution for Customer Experience (CX), announces the official launch of its global venture capital fund. The goal is to support companies focused on improving customer and employee experience based on AI technologies.
In this context, Zendesk Ventures announces new investments in PolyAI, a company developing advanced voice assistants, and unitQ, an AI-powered customer feedback platform. The fund helps emerging companies develop their potential by providing venture capital, CX and AI expertise, and strategic partnership options for growth and innovation.
"Every organization is on the path to becoming AI-enabled. We're excited to partner with companies that are driving this new era," says Ben Barclay, SVP Strategy, Corporate Development & Transformation at Zendesk. "Our goal goes far beyond our own product development: we support a start-up ecosystem whose visions align with ours. Customer service and the internal helpdesk for employees are changing rapidly due to advances in AI. Investing in these companies means not only supporting their growth, but also investing in our customers' ability to provide exceptional interactions."
Zendesk Ventures' portfolio already includes the conversational intelligence platform Observe.AI and Zuper, a provider of field service management software. The two announced new additions to the portfolio focus on AI-based CX and operational efficiency:
- PolyAI, a voice channel-focused solution, enables Zendesk customers to make complex interactions for order tracking and delivery updates as natural as a human conversation. Customers from various industries have been able to increase their sales and reduce call volumes and the time required for human agents to process requests.
- unitQ, an AI-based customer feedback platform, enables companies to capture and analyze customer interactions and feedback from over 60 different sources in real time to efficiently identify the root causes of user issues while improving Net Promoter Score.
"The market is demanding better, more personalized customer experiences. This investment in the combined future of Zendesk and PolyAI, along with our overlap in the call center space, creates a powerful symbiosis," said Michael Chen, VP of Alliances at PolyAI. "Zendesk Ventures strengthens our existing partnership and enables us to accelerate the development of product innovation and improve customer engagement by leveraging our AI technology for voice channels to continue to deliver authentic and high-quality voice interactions. Together, we look forward to paving the way for the next generation of CX."
"The partnership with Zendesk means that we are joining forces with a leading company, which opens the doors to top-class talent and industry networks," says Christian Wiklund, co-founder and CEO of unitQ. "Through this merger, we have gained a wealth of knowledge that will benefit our entire portfolio. We have received more than just funding - we are now part of a community and receive individual mentoring to drive the growth of our company."
Source: www.zendesk.de
