Voysis, which enables companies to create their own voice assistants, today announced the launch of its product, as well as a new funding round of $8 million.
Based in Dublin, Ireland, the startup has developed a deep learning engine built specifically to model speech and language tasks. Voysis Search can be integrated directly into a website or application, so unlike Google Assistant’s search, it lets users interact directly with a brand’s website or application to explore available products.
“Think Alexa or Siri but with the ability to go much deeper in natural language instruction, search, and discovery for a brand’s specific products and services,” wrote Peter Cahill, founder and chief executive of Voysis, in an email to VentureBeat. “The Voysis platform can ingest all of the relevant data, including product names, categories, descriptions, reviews, metadata, and more to create powerful models that are used to power the voice experience.”
Voysis can refine searches even after the initial question has been asked, something Cahill claims no other virtual assistant today is able to do. The startup has built a set of natural language capabilities into the platform, which currently supports 16 languages, including Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Arabic, and a number of European languages.
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The startup has not yet disclosed pricing plans or released customer names. According to Cahill, Voysis can support businesses across all verticals, including ecommerce, entertainment, health and fitness, automotive, and more.
Competitors include the usual suspects, like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri, but also smaller companies like SoundHound, Nuance, and Viv, which was recently acquired by Samsung.
Polaris Partners led today’s round — no other participants have been disclosed at this time. Voysis will use the capital to expand its team in the U.S., open a new office in Boston, and further develop the product.
Founded in 2014, the startup has raised just under $10 million since its founding and currently has 15 employees.
