OpenDialog raises $8m Series A to bring conversational AI to regulated industries
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OpenDialog – the award-winning, conversational AI platform used by regulated industries to offer unparalleled operational efficiency and customer experience, without sacrificing compliance – has raised over $8m in a Series A round led by us at AlbionVC.
Demand for conversational AI is rapidly rising and the market is on course to be worth an estimated $38bn globally by 2029, up from $8.4 billion last year. However, its adoption by companies operating in regulated sectors is constrained by the difficulties in using Natural Language Understanding (NLU) technologies and Large Language Models (LLMs), such as GPT4, to create effective conversational experiences that can automate business processes, whilst remaining compliant, safe and explainable.
With an initial focus on the healthcare and insurance sectors, OpenDialog unlocks the full power of conversational AI for the most complex and highly regulated industries, without the need for deep technology experts. Its no-code platform allows enterprises, from insurance giant Davies Group to NHS trusts and beyond, to combine the market’s most powerful LLMs and NLU technologies into a single automation platform.
OpenDialog’s latest funding, which included participation by Dowgate Capital and several notable angel investors, directors and staff, takes the total raised by the British company to $13m. The new round will be used to further the research and development behind OpenDialog’s innovative technology; to accelerate expansion into the US market and to carry on developing the company’s industry-focused solutions. Since raising its seed round in spring 2022, OpenDialog has quadrupled its headcount with staff numbers increasing to over 40.
Terry Walby, co-founder and CEO of OpenDialog, said: “We’re building a category-defining business that redefines the way humans interact with technology and that makes advanced and Generative AI realizable for enterprises. Businesses are keen to take advantage of the technology they see manifested in applications like ChatGPT, but they’re struggling to figure out how to make that a reality in a business context without exposing themselves to risks. Wecan offer them the security, granular control, explainability and safety which is essential for all businesses, but particularly those operating in regulated sectors like insurance, healthcare, financial services and utilities.”
Dr Ronald Ashri, co-founder and CPTO of OpenDialog, said: “The whole world is constrained by access to skilled resources. There are simply not enough professionals in the world in fields like healthcare, education and customer support to serve every need – and the use of technology is the only solution to that problem. AI, and in particular conversational automation, will be essential to increasing the capacity and reach of services available, meeting a range of needs that would be impossible with human resources alone. This is a transformation in the enterprise sector and the world of work that is every bit as significant as the founding of the internet. Those that are adopting conversational AI now are seeing their growth accelerating and will rapidly leave behind those whose tendency is to wait and see.”
“Conversational AI has evolved massively since early chatbots. In OpenDialog, we have a team of proven entrepreneurs and technologists who have successfully built and scaled enterprise businesses before and we’re convinced that they have the potential to be one of a handful of global leaders in this once-in-a-generation transformation.”
Ed Lascelles, Partner AlbionVC
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