Asian Private Equity Giant Leads Series A Funding into AI-focused Start-Up
A rising star in Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning systems ICONTEK received USD 6 million from the global venture capital giant Vickers Venture Partners, Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation Equity Asia (an arm of the Sumitomo Group) and their investment partners as part of its Series A funding round.
This partnership adds to Vickers’ already extensive global portfolio of start-ups and is their third in the artificial intelligence space. To date, Vickers Venture Partners is one of the best performing VC’s in the world and is highly-regarded to be Asia’s most accredited venture capital firm.
ICONTEK is a leading creator of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and machine learning engines, its research is devoted to the progress of core technologies related to human-computer interaction. The company’s products allows seamless interactions between users machines and systems with powerful implications in terms of customer service. Currently ICONTEK has over 12 patents pending for its unique learning and response algorithms and tools.
The company’s mission is to deliver enterprise-friendly solutions that lower costs for businesses while preserving a fluid user experience based on Natural Intelligence (NI) technology.
Founder and CEO of ICONTEK, Mr. Grant Yu, stated that his inspiration was drawn from children in China learning English. “Traditional AI is like a written study. And the robot is taught in a similar fashion to the way a child is taught English at school. The difference is that our system can communicate in English without going to school. It naturally builds a model of oral understanding and constantly optimizes and improves. This is the basic concept of Natural Intelligence NI (Natural Intelligence).”
Vickers Venture Partners, with its focus on Deep-Tech and Artificial Intelligence (AI) saw potential in ICONTEK on account of this unique approach. The global machine learning market is set generate over USD 8 billion worth of revenue by 2020.
Dr. Jeffrey Chi, founding Member of Vickers Venture Partners and Vice Chairman of Asia Investment Board, will serve as the lead investor in the project.
