AI Rudder, a Singapore-based voice artificial intelligence (AI) startup, announced Tuesday it has raised $10 million in a Series A funding round co-led by Sequoia Capital India and Sequoia China Seed Fund.

Existing investors Zhen Fund, IMO Ventures, Zizhu Xiaomiao Fund, and Huashan Capital also participated in the round.

AI Rudder said in a statement, the fresh fund will be used to further propel the company’s growth and expansion to more countries in the Asia Pacific and beyond.

On the product side, the new round will also be used to enhance AI and product capabilities to provide more intelligent voice and language services.

“Consumers want faster, frictionless experiences while interacting with brands and their services, and AI Rudder’s technology makes this possible at scale,” said Kun Wu, Co-Founder and Managing Director, AI Rudder.

With the new funding, he said the company will be able to support more languages and expand its capabilities, enabling its mission to boost customer experiences across industries.

Founded in July 2019, AI Rudder merges technology with the power of voice communications to build a strong connection between companies and their customers. Using AI-driven automation to supercharge customer experiences, the company has helped more than 100 companies improve on the scale, speed, and quality of their customer interactions by helping them plan, execute and complete repetitive tasks.

AI Rudder uses voice AI technology to help businesses solve business-to-consumer (B2C) communication challenges across a range of different industries, such as banking and finance, fintech, and e-commerce. Notable clients include fast-growing companies like Kredivo, Adira Finance, and FinVolution. AI Rudder has also launched its refreshed brand identity by unveiling a fresh logo and new website, to help propel the company into its next phase of growth.

“Conversational AI has moved from being a medium of customer support to pillars of customer engagement and retention. Companies are digitizing every aspect of their business at an accelerated pace and voice is the next frontier. B2C voice communications is a US$300 billion market and we are excited about the applications AI Rudder is building to help companies make human-like calls at lightning speed and automate collection and analysis of data to reach and activate more customers“, said Rohit Agarwal, Principal at Sequoia India.

According to the statement, AI Rudder will also be focusing on hiring new talent across various functions, including Go To Market (GTM), sales and marketing, and solutions consulting. These roles will be based at the company’s headquarters in Singapore and will be responsible for overseeing global and regional operations.

The company’s previous funding includes a $1 million seed round in January 2020 and a $2 million extension of the seed round in June 2020. Since then, the business has grown its revenue fourfold and acquired 5 times more customers. The team size has also increased from 30 to 100 in the same period.

Headquartered in Singapore, AI Rudder also has offices and operations in Shanghai and Jakarta.

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