Rasa raises $26M led by A16Z for its open source conversational AI platform
Rasa raises $26M led by A16Z for its open source conversational AI platform
As chatbots and other AI-based services like interactive voice apps continue to become more ubiquitous, a startup that’s built software to help create and — critically — improve how they work over time is announcing a significant funding round to continue expanding its business. Rasa, which has developed an open source-based platform for developers to build chatbots, voice apps and other services that employ conversational AI for interactivity, is today announcing that it has raised $26 million, a Series B round that it will use to continue investing in its technology, hiring more talent, and expanding its business, which has been on a growth tear. Alex Weidauer, the CEO and co-founder, said in an interview that its SDK has seen downloads grow six-fold in the last 14 months, and even with the company — founded originally in Berlin, now headquartered in San Francisco — more focused on growth than revenues at the moment, annual recurring revenue has triple in the last 12 months. Customers include Adobe, Deutsche Telekom, BMW, Airbus, ENGIE, HCA Healthcare, and Orange.