E-Commerce Conversational AI Startup Zowie Raises $14M
Conversational AI for e-commerce startup Zowie has raised $14 million in a Series A funding round led by Tiger Global Management. Zowie develops specialized chatbots combining customer support and sales functions for consumer brands looking to improve customer relationships and up possible revenue.
Zowie AI
Zowie’s chatbots are fueled by the Zowie X1 AI, which can analyze both words and the possible feeling behind them. Zowie can spot trends in the kinds of questions and responses it receives from customers and compile reports from that data for clients. The AI is sophisticated enough for Zowie to boast of automating 70% of incoming queries, often about tracking or adjusting orders. The AI sifts through previous conversations, a business knowledge base, and even published frequently asked questions to determine what to automate and what to leave to human experts. It can integrate with common e-commerce payment methods such as Shopify, Recharge, and Klaviyo. The chatbot passes along any useful information from the conversation to the human customer service member so they can hit the ground running with product recommendations.
“Customer service is the new marketing,” Zowie CEO Maja Schaefer said. “Every interaction with customers is an opportunity to sell. Zowie enables brands to improve their customer relationships and start generating revenue from customer service. Our latest funding is an exciting moment for us and will unlock even better solutions for our customers.”
Service AI
The new funding round more than triples Zowie’s total investment to $20 million and includes contributions from Google’s Gradient Ventures, 10xFounders, and Inovo. Zowie has an eye on improving its automation and bringing its platform to email and other channels using the cash infusion. It comes at a ripe moment for leveraging conversational AI on behalf of customer service and sales. A lot of money is funneling in the direction of similar companies such s Observe.AI’s $125 million, Glia’s $45 million, or the truly enormous $400 million raised by Uniphore. Meanwhile, Gupshup has applied the $340 million raised last year and gone on a buying spree of conversational AI providers specializing in verticals like banking and e-commerce.
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