New Delhi: The multi-lingual support helps in seamlessly switching between languages, hence enhancing and personalizing the customer service experience. Deploying multi lingual chatbots lets businesses end up saving a lot of money thereby becoming a cost-efficient solution.
While many of us would be surprised to know, but these crucial operations for many big companies are usually handled by start-ups. One such start-up is ‘Mihup’, a conversational AI platform founded in 2016, which enables enterprise developers to create customised voice interfaces with full control over brand identity and privacy.
One of the biggest names being served by Mihup is Tata Motors for the AI assistance in Indian languages and dialects alongside English.
Mihup’s new automated virtual agent for their vehicles as the solution brings in Indian regional languages and dialects. The solution has so far been integrated in about 50,000 Tata vehicles including variants of Tata Altroz and Tata Nexon. It will soon be seen in Tata trucks as well.
At present, Mihup offers English, Hinglish, Tamil-English, Bengali-English capabilities; however, by the end of 2022, the aim is to cover all Indian regional languages.
Mihup allows the driver to enjoy a true hands-free experience for major car functions such as controlling the air-conditioner, music volume, radio channels etc. It has natural language processing support to make phone calls and play music from USB, providing navigational support and vehicle information, among others.
Here is detailed Q&A with Tapan Barman, Co-founder and CEO, Mihup:
Q. What is the scope and usage of Conversational AI in the auto sector?
A. Auto solutions is a $300-billion-plus market at present, and voice AI in vehicles is now set to go beyond basic functions such as controlling air-conditioning or playing music. As per an estimate, there will be over 76 million connected cars globally by 2023 and the overall potential for Internet of Vehicles is almost limitless.
With vernacular AI entering the picture, a whole new world of vehicle commerce will be created, and there is ample scope for new and evolving voice AI brands like Mihup in the market that is so far dominated by big technology firms like Apple, Google and Amazon.
Q. What services is Mihup giving to Tata Motors?
A. Tata Motors had been using an American voice assistant in their vehicles since 2014, which despite being proficient had limitations of language coverage. Thus, they were looking for a solution which could offer seamless coverage of different Indian languages and dialects alongside English. Mihup worked with the renowned audio electronics brand, Harman International to create the desired solution for Tata Motors.
Q. What are the recent big deals that Mihup has received?
A. Apart from our collaboration with Tata Motors, we have recently been selected by MG Motors under their MG Developer Program & Grant 2.0 where MG will explore synergies in voice technology. Further, we are in talks with 2-3 other leading OEMs in India and over the next 12-24 months, we will see significant client acquisition and market expansion in India as well as in the global markets. We are working with enterprise clients and leading unicorns for our Call Center product which is focussed on the Speech/Interaction Analytics space.
Q. How much funding Mihup has raised so far?
A. Mihup raised $1.5 million in a Series A funding round in December 2020. The round was led by Accel Partners, Ideaspring Capital, leading investor Rajesh Jain’s firm Core91 VC and Jayant Kadambi (founder and CEO YuMe Networks). Earlier Mihup had secured seed funding and pre-Series A funding from Accel Partners and Ideaspring Capital. Mihup has raised around $3 million funding in total until now.
Q. How have the funds been used by Mihup so far?
A. The funds raised so far have been utilized for product research & development and expanding Mihup’s coverage of regional languages under the voice AI platform. Conversational AI solutions are a high entry barrier segment due to the long process of product development and validation requiring funding support throughout the process. We have also utilised the funds to market our products throughout India and create a best-in-class position for Mihup as an Indian vernacular AI solution.
Q. Is Mihup looking for any fundraise in the near future?
A. Yes, we are aiming for a Series B funding round soon and have already roped in a leading banker for the process. The aim of the proposed Series B funding is to drive the brand’s growth and market expansion in major international territories.
Source: timesnownews.com
