AI has been generally welcomed into the world of business. With countless startups launching innovative AI platforms for myriad uses, most people in developed countries have had some kind of interaction with one AI or another, often without even realising. As long ago as 2021, it is estimated that up to 15% of all customer service interaction were solely powered by AI. The advantages of this technology to businesses are substantial. Streamlined workflow, reduced response and handling times, better predictions of customer and client behaviour, and 24/7 customer service availability including a level of personalisation, means more efficient processes for the business and a better experience for their customers.
San Francisco based Rasa, a leading generative conversational AI platform, has raised $30 million Series C funding round. The round was co-led by StepStone Group [a global private markets investment firm] and PayPal Ventures [the corporate venture arm of PayPal], with significant participation from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Accel, and Basis Set Ventures.
Fuelling innovation and market presence
Melissa Gordon, Rasa CEO, expresses excitement about the investment’s potential to accelerate their market leadership, “This investment accelerates our lead in the market and fuels our drive to redefine what is possible for businesses using generative AI-powered chat and voice platforms at scale. With our technology, we’re well-positioned to transform how businesses interact with their customers, making every conversation impactful and personal. We will use the funding to advance our technological leadership and strengthen our market presence.”
Dr Alan Nichol, Rasa Co-Founder and CTO, underscores Rasa’s revolutionary approach to conversational AI. He Added, “At Rasa we’ve reinvented how conversational AI works. While many in the industry claim to incorporate generative AI, often it’s merely an addition of LLMs onto their existing platforms.”
Advancing conversational AI mission
Rasa remains committed to empowering the world’s largest brands, enabling them to address people’s needs through open and extensible conversational AI. The platform powers sophisticated AI assistants aligned with customers’ business logic, facilitating meaningful and practical user engagement. Recent launches, Rasa Pro and Rasa Studio with CALM (Conversational AI with Language Models), introduce innovations combining the flexibility of LLMs with the control and certainty of traditional chatbots. CALM ensures coherent and natural user interactions with out-of-the-box conversation handling, while Rasa Studio’s intuitive UI streamlines development, reducing costs and reliance on specialist teams.
Validation of value and strategic participation
Hunter Somerville, Partner at StepStone Group, opined Rasa’s consummate worth, “Rasa delivers unparalleled value to its clients by automating or eliminating the most expensive and time-consuming aspects of delivering excellent customer service. Rasa proves time and again that security-conscious enterprise customers can safely deploy the latest conversational AI, with an elegant low-code platform that offers robust functionality, data privacy, and scale.”
PayPal Ventures, in its first AI investment, joins the round, marking the launch of its new AI Fund. “We are thrilled to mark the launch of our AI Fund with our investment in Rasa,” said Alan Du, PayPal Ventures partner. “We believe Rasa offers a best-in-class platform for enterprises to develop robust, conversational AI, and we have seen how its concierge solutions improve customer engagement and business performance.”
Rasa’s extensive user base includes two of the world’s top three banks, major insurers, and global travel and hospitality companies. The platform’s revolutionary advancements in conversational AI are recognised by industry leaders, exemplified by Andreas Bohmann, VP IT Enterprise, and Integration Architecture at Deutsche Telekom, “Rasa’s latest platform marks a revolutionary advancement in the realm of conversational AI. It effortlessly combines ease of use with advanced capabilities and will enable us to securely leverage the potential of Large Language Models to create an even more intuitive conversational experience for our customers,”
Future growth and hiring initiatives
The fresh funding will propel Rasa’s team growth dedicated to reshaping the future of AI assistants. Rasa actively seeks talent across North America and Europe in various roles, including Marketing, Sales, Engineering, and Customer Success.
Rasa is a pioneering generative conversational AI platform that empowers enterprises to build and deliver next-level AI assistants. With a state-of-the-art engine and a user-friendly low-code UI, Rasa provides an open and adaptable platform aligned with business logic. As a trusted choice for enterprises, Rasa seeks to enhance customer interactions while reducing costs. Founded in 2016, Rasa is privately held with funding from StepStone, PayPal, Accel, Andreessen Horowitz, Basis Set Ventures, and others. The company operates as a remote-first organisation with a presence in San Francisco, Berlin, London, Paris, and Belgrade.
