Conversational AI engagement technology provider Gupshup has acquired Bengaluru, India-based AskSid for an undisclosed amount.
AskSid provides conversational artificial intelligence technology to global e-commerce brands, including AkzoNobel, Danone, Wolford, Akris and Himalaya Wellness. Its AI-powered conversations support businesses in 25 countries serving over 100 languages.
“Conversational commerce is about to transform shopping, both online and offline. Gupshup is building the most comprehensive conversational commerce solution and AskSid’s deep-domain AI offering will help us bring even more advanced capabilities to e-commerce and retail businesses worldwide,” said Beerud Sheth, co-founder and CEO of Gupshup. “We welcome the AskSid team onboard and look forward to collaborating with major brands across the world to enable next-gen shopping experiences.”
According to Gupshup, AskSid’s full-stack AI solution, which includes the Retail AI brain, can automate 92% of support conversations with a self-service model with customers reporting a 25% reduction in operational expense and a 30% increase in conversion rate.
Automating customer support provides a “huge opportunity for retail and e-commerce brands — but only if they are able to provide expert guidance anytime, anywhere to their consumers, which is exactly what AskSid delivers,” said Sanjoy Roy, co-founder and CEO of AskSid. “Together with Gupshup, we will help businesses drive richer conversational experiences.”
AskSid’s angel investors include technology leaders Rajan Anandan (ex-Google), Krishnakumar Natarajan (ex-Mindtree), Parthasarathy NS (ex-Mindtree) and Radha R (ex-Microsoft and Mindtree). The AI startup is also backed by Techstars (first institutional investor in AskSid), a global seed accelerator that mentors some of the world’s most successful startups.
“AskSid’s retail-specific models help global retail brands deliver impactful shopping experiences to their consumers. I am impressed with AskSid’s powerful AI capabilities and their ability to acquire global brands so readily,” said Vijay Tirathrai, managing director at Techstars. “The merger with Gupshup is the next logical step and a great strategic fit as their deep vertical AI expertise in retail now gets augmented by Gupshup on a global scale in CPaaS and CX, delivering immense value to enterprise customers.”
Gupshup, based in San Francisco, automates over 6 billion messages per month on its platform and integrates with most major e-commerce platforms.
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