Pand.ai, a marketing-and-sales AI startup based in Singapore, announces that it has secured a US$ 7-digit pre-Series A investment from Thailand’s Bualuang Ventures Bangkok, the corporate venture capital arm of Thailand’s Bangkok Bank.

As reported by DealStreetAsia, the funding follows the startup’s recent US$1 million funding, received from a Hong Kong-based angel investor.

The company said that it will use the newly raised fund to expand its NLP Lab’s resources in Singapore, focussing on developing conversational AI engines for Southeast Asian languages.

Pand.ai was founded in 2016, looking to serve financial institutions around Southeast Asia with its AI-powered chatbots. The company offers conversational-based micro-learning and gamification, designed to help clients improve marketing efficiency while supporting sales productivity for financial advisors.

Pand.ai allows financial institutions to converse digitally with consumers using a proprietary NLP engine with the ability to understand intent, has contextual memory, and is multilingual.

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Pand.ai said that it currently serves international and regional financial companies, such as Allianz, Great Eastern, Schroders, and Tokio Marine.

“Pand.ai was one of the outstanding startups in the Bangkok Bank Innohub Season 2 global accelerator program. The team at Bualuang Ventures, Innohub, and Pand.ai have been working closely to roll out a solution for the Thai market,” said Krit Phanratanamala, Investment Advisor of Bualuang Ventures.

Currently, the languages available are English, Simplified, and Traditional Chinese, Bahasa Malaysia, and Bahasa Indonesia.

Bualuang Ventures, the investor, currently manages a US$60-million fund, of which it has deployed US$42 million in direct investments, including private equity and VC deals, and capital allocation to venture capital funds.

The VC firm reportedly planned to raise US$60-80 million for its second fund this year. The new fund is said to be focussed on small and medium enterprises, Gen Y lifestyle, and fintech/digital branding.
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Photo by ROBIN WORRALL on Unsplash

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