Amazon Alexa Fund
Facts
- HQ
- Seattle / Amazon
- Sectors
- Venture Capital, Voice technology, Ambient computing
Hearvana AI Raises $6M Oversubscribed Pre-seed Led by Point72 Ventures and SCB 10X
Hearvana AI, a Seattle startup building auditory intelligence to improve sound perception for humans and machines, raised $6 million in an oversubscribed pre-seed round led by Point72 Ventures and SCB 10X. The company will expand engineering and go-to-market teams and launch commercial pilots with consumer electronics and AI partners.
Seattle Startup Hearvana Raises $6M to Develop AI-Driven Sound Enhancement Technology
Seattle startup Hearvana, founded by University of Washington researchers including Shyam Gollakota, raised $6 million in pre-seed funding to develop AI-powered sound enhancement technology for devices like earbuds and hearing aids. Their AI platform enables real-time, on-device audio processing to improve listening in complex and noisy environments.
Symbl raises $4.7M led by Crosscut Ventures with Amazon Alexa Fund to expand conversational AI for enterprise
Seattle startup Symbl raised $4.7 million in a round led by Crosscut Ventures with participation from Amazon’s Alexa Fund and several other investors to expand its conversational AI API that transcribes real-time conversations and extracts insights for meetings, customer care, and sales. Founded in 2018 by Surbhi Rathore and Toshish Jawale, the 30-person company says pandemic-driven digital communication growth has increased demand for its services.
DefinedCrowd raises $50.5M Series B to scale crowd-powered AI training data for Mastercard, BMW and other Fortune 500s
Seattle-based DefinedCrowd raised $50.5 million in Series B funding to expand its AI training data platform that uses machine learning plus a 290,000-strong global crowd to provide datasets in 50 languages. Revenue grew over 650% in 2019, headcount more than doubled to 265 with plans to reach 500 employees and expand offices despite the pandemic.
Founders’ Co-op publishes customer experience promise to founders outlining five commitments after 200+ early-stage investments
Founders’ Co-op outlines a written customer experience promise to founders, committing to five principles—Tell the Truth, Be Fast, Give First, It’s Your Company, Be Human—based on the partners’ founder-to-VC experience and more than 200 early-stage investments.
Amazon Launches Third Alexa Accelerator Cohort Featuring Nine Startups Innovating Voice Technology Applications
Amazon's Alexa Accelerator has launched its third cohort, featuring nine startups innovating with Alexa's voice technology across diverse applications like cooking and remote healthcare. The Alexa platform has rapidly grown, with over 90,000 skills and 100 million Alexa-enabled devices sold, reflecting the maturing voice tech market.
Owlet Baby Care Raises $15 Million in Venture Funding to Advance Smart Sock Development
Owlet Baby Care raised an additional $15 million in venture funding in November 2016 to support product development and clinical studies for its Owlet Smart Sock. The company is continuing to advance its infant monitoring technology with this new funding.
