PR98141

TAIPEI, Oct. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --

Aiello Inc. (https://aiello.ai/）;(Aiello), a leading Natural Language

Processing and Voice AI startup, announced it has raised US$5.8M in a Series

Pre-A+ funding round led by two major institutional investors, JAFCO Asia

(https://jafcoasia.com/) and Wistron Corporation(https://www.wistron.com/). The

existing investor Cornerstone Ventures(https://cornerstonevc.tw/en/mainpage/)

also participated in the round. Aiello has raised a total of over US$10 million

in funding since its inception four years ago.

The company's flagship product, Aiello Voice Assistant (AVA), is the most

advanced NLU-based solution dedicated to hospitality. This year, the number of

AVA equipped guest rooms is expected to increase an impressive 2.5x compared to

2021. Over the past six months, Aiello has won multiple international hotel

contracts in Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, and several leading

hotel brands recently signed corporate level service contracts with the

company. The new funds will be used to further accelerate customer acquisition,

expand the solution to international markets, and launch new products.

"Our data shows that AVA has reduced front desk workloads in hotels where it is

deployed by approximately 30%. For a hotel with 200 rooms, that represents more

than 300 hours of labor time in 6 months", says Vic Shen, founder, and CEO of

Aiello. "According to our findings, our AI voice assistant also helps hotels

increase their social media exposure by up to 10 times, largely thanks to

guests sharing their experiences." At the same time, AVA drives additional

revenue for hotels, increases the proportion of direct bookings, and encourages

hotel guest loyalty. It analyzes the needs and usage behaviors of guests during

their stay and extracts data which can be used to improve hotel management.

Founded in January 2019, with a founding team from Google, Qualcomm, and HTC,

Aiello's expertise relies on its in-house Natural Language Processing (NLP) and

Machine Learning (ML) models. Currently the startup's AI-solutions process more

than 900,000 speech, and text interactions per month in Chinese, English, Thai,

and Japanese.  

Aiello closed its Pre-A round last year (2021) by co-lead investor Chunghwa

PCHome Fund No.1 (a joint venture-capital fund established by Chunghwa Telecom

Group (TWS 2412) and PCHOME Online Inc. (TWS 8044)) managed by Cornerstone

Ventures(https://cornerstonevc.tw/en/mainpage/), Zylux Acoustic Corporation,

and ColoplNext, a CVC from well-known Japanese listed gaming company Colopl.

Notably, this was ColoplNext's first investment into an AI start-up based in

Taiwan.

"We are excited to have JAFCO Asia and Wistron to join as Aiello investors",

Vic says. "We believe JAFCO and Wistron's strong network and knowledge can

bring Aiello to great heights. The new funds will be used to accelerate

business in international markets, especially in Japan and Thailand, where we

see a good traction. We also plan to boost Research & Development and launch a

new product, a 'Conversation Intelligence Platform' that aim at improving

corporate sales and meeting efficiency. This platform, which focuses on

AI-driven Voice & Audio analysis and collaboration, is expected to be launched

by the end of this year."

JAFCO Asia (https://jafcoasia.com/)is a group of JAFCO Group

(https://www.jafco.co.jp/english/) Co., Ltd. (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 8595),

Japan's leading venture capital firm. John Lin, Managing Director of JAFCO Asia

Taiwan, remarks, "Aiello is one of the few AI companies in Asia with a scalable

business model. In the post-pandemic era, the labor shortage and digital

transformation of enterprises are visible trends. We expect that the demand for

artificial intelligence and intelligent voice in enterprises will be higher and

higher, and Aiello is bound to play an important role. "

For more information, please go to: www.aiello.ai

[Press Contact]

Mathieu Delafosse

Mobile: +886 961 233 290

Email: mathieu@aiello.ai

SOURCE: Aiello Inc.

Image Attachments Links:

   Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=430899

   Caption: [Image] The Aiello Voice Assistant (AVA) has been introduced in several

international hotel brands in Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore

   Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=430904

   Caption: [Image] Vic Shen, Founder and CEO of Aiello Inc, will expand the company into

the Japanese market by relying on the investors' footprints in Japan and their

expertise in software and hardware solutions