Voice App Platform Storyline Raises $770,000 in Funding
Storyline is a startup which developed a voice application platform that lets users build Alexa skills without any coding knowledge. Since launching in 2017, the company has already accrued over 12,000 users who have launched more than 2,500 Alexa skills. And investors are taking note. Today the company announced it has raised an additional $770,000 in funding led by Boost VC. Storyline joined forces with Boost VC back in October as part of its Tribe 10. The company also recently graduated from the Y Combinator’s Winter 2018 class which granted it an additional $120,000 to further build upon its voice application platform.
CEO and co-founder Vasili Shynkarenka has big plans on how the company will use the new funds, in a comment to Voicebot:
With our new funding, we want to achieve that kind of product quality & reputation, so that when people think about launching an Alexa skill, they name Storyline as the #1 brand that comes to mind. Currently, we’re working on integrating in-skill purchases support to Storyline – it gives both developers & businesses an apparent reason why to build for Alexa.
New Platforms for New Technology
An example of Storyline’s drag-and-drop interface
As new technology gains adoption, new platforms emerge that make it easy for users who have no coding experience to take advantage. Think of email and the hundreds of CRM startups it created. Storyline saw a similar opportunity with Alexa and other voice assistants to create a platform that allows users to quickly create and launch an Alexa skill. The drag-and-drop visual interface makes it painless for users to build a custom voice app. No coding required.
Other companies are also looking to take advantage of their technical knowledge to create voice app development platforms, including Amazon itself with the launch of Alexa Skill Blueprints. But according to Facebook group comment, Shynkarenka isn’t concerned it will impede Storyline’s growth, instead he thinks it will create more awareness about Alexa and voice app development in general:
I see Blueprints as a positive thing because it increases general awareness about building skills without coding that results in more people coming to Storyline. More than that, we’ve built Storyline to support multiple platforms and Amazon is just one of them. And we move much faster.
Alexa Skill Blueprints Mean Everyone Can Have a Personal Alexa Skill with No Coding
