AI Rudder Raises US$10 Million in Series A Round

Funds raised from investors, including Sequoia Capital India and Sequoia China Seed Fund, will be used to fuel overseas expansion and enhance product capabilities for the Singapore-based voice AI startup.

SINGAPORE, 16 NOVEMBER 2021 — AI Rudder, a leading voice AI startup based in Singapore, has raised US$10 million in a Series A funding round co-led by Sequoia Capital India and Sequoia China Seed Fund. Existing investors Zhen Fund, IMO Ventures, Zizhu Xiaomiao Fund, and Huashan Capital also participated in the round.

The fresh fund infusion will be used to further propel the company’s growth and expansion to more countries in Asia Pacific and beyond. On the product side, the new round will be used to enhance AI and product capabilities to provide more intelligent voice and language services. 

“Consumers want faster, frictionless experiences while interacting with brands and their services, and AI Rudder’s technology makes this possible at scale. With the new funding, we will be able to support more languages and expand our capabilities, enabling our mission to boost customer experiences across industries. We are grateful to our investors for their support and feel supercharged for the next phase of growth,” said Kun Wu, Co-Founder and Managing Director, AI Rudder.

Founded in July 2019, AI Rudder uses voice AI technology to help businesses solve B2C communication challenges across a range of different industries, such as banking and finance, fintech, and ecommerce. Notable clients include fast-growing companies like Kredivo, Adira Finance and FinVolution. AI Rudder has also launched its refreshed brand identity by unveiling a fresh logo and new website, to help propel the company into its next phase of growth.

“Conversational AI has moved from being a medium of customer support to pillars of customer engagement and retention. Companies are digitising every aspect of their business at an accelerated pace and voice is the next frontier. Business to consumer (B2C) voice communications is a US$300 Bn market and we are excited about the applications AI Rudder is building to help companies make human-like calls at lightning speed and automate collection and analysis of data to reach and activate more customers“, said Rohit Agarwal, Principal at Sequoia India.

AI Rudder will also be focusing on hiring new talent across various functions, including GTM (Go To Market), sales and marketing, and solutions consulting. These roles will be based at the company’s headquarters in Singapore and will be responsible for overseeing global and regional operations.

The company’s previous funding includes a US$1 million seed round in January 2020 and US$2 million extension of the seed round in June 2020. Since then, the business has grown its revenue fourfold and acquired 5 times more customers. The team size has also increased from 30 to 100 in the same period.