"Given the current moment of effervescence of this type of technology, you have to take advantage of the pull to grow more and better. To do this, either you have a lot of cash or you carry out investment rounds. Otherwise, other companies with more muscle like IBM will come along and overtake you, no matter how much you suspect you have better technology. It's a way to be able to invest in R&D and continue to have a good product," says an Inbenta executive.
About Inbenta
Inbenta sells software based on Artificial Intelligence, capable of understanding human language and responding to customer needs. To make artificial intelligence work, Inbenta develops search engines based on the contextual meaning of the questions customers ask instead of just the keywords they type. So customers type in the chatbox and the computer is able to know what they need. Inbenta's clients include: BBVA, Correos, Casa del Libro, Iberia, Alsa, Telepizza, Carrefour, Fnac, Iberdrola, Ono and the Generalitat de Catalunya, among others.
The company's R&D centres are in Barcelona, although it has offices in France, Brazil, Chile, the Netherlands and the United States. The American market, together with Spain, generates around 85 % of the group's total revenue, although Latin America is currently beginning to implement artificial intelligence solutions and is one of the next markets they aspire to conquer.
Inbenta closes €12M round
Inbenta, founded in 2005, has closed its second round worth $12M. The round was led by the private investment firm Level Equitywith participation from private equity fund manager Amasia and series A investor Scale Capital through its fund Amérigo Chile.
The round will be used for the international expansion of the company, mainly in Europe, the United States and Japan. At the same time, Inbenta will continue to drive its R&D, developing its chatbots, e-commerce solutions, semantic search and suite of intelligent customer care solutions. It also intends to strengthen its marketing, sales and customer service divisions, with the aim of providing a 24-hour support service deployed in several countries.
Strong growth for Inbenta thanks to internationalisation
The company closed 2015 with a turnover of €4.6M, 67% more than the previous year and 133% more than in 2013. In 2016 Inbenta aims to reach a turnover of €8M. To a large extent, the investment round it received in 2014 boosted sales growth, especially through exports. In 2015, sales outside Spain already accounted for 60% of turnover. In fact, the United States is about to overtake Spain in turnover.
Other natural language processing companies that have received investment in 2016
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