SoftBank and Line further AI ambitions by joining this startup’s $33m series C

Appier’s team in Taipei. Photo credit: Appier.

Artificial intelligence startup Appier today revealed that it has secured US$33 million in series C funding from investors such as SoftBank, Line, and Singapore’s EDBI.

The Taipei-based company said in a statement that it will use the investment to hire new team members – particularly in engineering and research and development – as it looks to grow its global presence, which already covers Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea, and several Southeast Asian countries. Some of the capital will also go toward expanding its product portfolio and enhancing its functionality.

We’ve already developed a solution in the marketing space, and one in the data intelligence space, and now we plan to enlarge.

Appier offers a number of products built around technology which tracks an individual user’s activity across all of the web-connected devices they own – be it smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer – enabling advertisers to better target their campaigns.

The startup’s Programmatic Platform uses behavioral and device ownership information gathered by its AI technology to make decisions on which audiences to target at particular times, and on what type of device. Its second product, Aixon, uses artificial intelligence to analyze app and website user data from Appier’s database to derive marketing insights.

Appier co-founder and CEO Chih-Han Yu tells Tech in Asia that the startup currently serves over 1,000 companies around the world. Audi, Tokopedia, Estee Lauder, Minute Maid, Taj, and HK Express are a few of the widely recognised brand names that Appier has worked with.

“Our goal is to provide various enterprise solutions, for a range of business challenges,” says Yu. “We’ve already developed a solution in the marketing space, and one in the data intelligence space, and now we plan to enlarge.”

Appier co-founder and CEO Chih-Han Yu. Photo credit: Appier.

The money raised in its series C round will be a big help in this regard. But aside from the funding, the investors themselves also bring expertise and market clout to the table. “For this round, our investors include some of the most visionary internet companies in the world,” says Yu. “Also, they are Asia-focused and going global – just like us.” Yu adds that Appier and its series C backers could collaborate on product development and find other synergies between their respective offerings, such as technology integration.

Big name backers

This latest funding comes after a “series B2” injection back in December last year, when it received US$19.5 million from investors including Pavilion Capital – part of Singapore state fund Temasek – WI Harper Group, FirstFloor Capital, and Qualgro.

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