As companies across sectors scramble to keep doing business amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a Toronto-based chatbot software firm with Communitech connections has raised a USD$44-million Series B investment round to expand its platform.
Ada Support, a graduate of Communitech’s Rev accelerator and co-winner of the top prize at Rev’s 2017 Demo Day, announced the raise this week. The round was led by Accel, with participation from existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, FirstMark, Version One, Leaders Fund and Burst Capital.
“We are incredibly proud of this achievement, and grateful to be well capitalized at a time when the world is desperate for solutions that will allow them to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, without compromising their relationships with customers,” Ruth Zive, Ada’s Head of Marketing, wrote in a company blog post on Thursday.
Maintaining customer relationships is a monumental challenge as the pandemic has grounded international travel and sent workers home to do their jobs virtually. Ada’s AI-powered chatbots have been helping companies to automate those relationships to the tune of 30 million personalized conversations annually, a number that’s now soaring due to COVID-19.
“This fundraise is especially more meaningful having watched our clients lean hard into Ada’s platform as their customer support volumes have skyrocketed in recent days,” Zive wrote. “We have seen 5x the volume of engaged conversations being automated with Ada, and it is gratifying to know we are getting people the information they need, in real time, with a sense of urgency and care.”
Ada’s clients include AirAsia, Mailchimp, Shopify, Telus, Upwork and Zoom.
The company announced a CDN$19-million Series A raise in December 2018.
