Virtual assistant platform Boost AI AS has closed a $5m Series A funding round, just months after releasing its user authentication feature.
Following the investment, which was led by Alliance Venture, Boost’s founders and employees will retain two-thirds of the ownership in the company.
Norway-based Boost has developed virtual assistant platform James, which can help to respond to consumers enquiries. It has a natural language processing algorithm which allows it to understand a range of dialects, slang and spelling mistakes.The AI assists with a range of tasks such as banking, insurance, telecom, retail, transportation, HR and public administration.
In December, the company announced a new verison of the James platform, which features user authentication. The virtual assistant can confirm the identity of a user, meaning activities, such as deactivating credit cards, transferring funds, buying tickets, ordering phones, delivering applications and upgrading subscriptions, among other, can now be done directly in chat.
Founded in 2016, the company has signed deals with Nordic companies including Telenor, Nordea, Sparebank1, the Norwegian Government Agency for Financial Management, Santander and Storebrand.
Boost said it will be used to boost the company’s technical and commercial teams, as well as supporting the expansion out of the Nordics. The company is currently becoming compliant with ISO 27001 and preparing for GDPR according to its website.
Alliance Venture partner Johan Gjesdahl said, “Our diligence calls confirm this – it is seldom we see such strong customer satisfaction with both a product and the team that delivers it. We are very happy to back such an exceptional team and are looking forward to help growing boost.ai outside the Nordics.”
Earlier this year, JCB, an international payment brand originating from Japan, annouced plans to begin trailing a biometric palm print and vein identification authentication system.
Canadian user authentication company Zighra also recently launched SensifyID, an AI-powered continuous authentication and threat detection platform.
Copyright © 2018 RegTech Analyst
Copyright © 2018 RegTech Analyst
