Singapore chatbot developer Pand.ai bags $1m in seed funding

Singapore-based Pand.ai, an AI startup developing smart chatbots for financial institutions, has secured US$1 million in seed funding from a sole angel investor.

The Pand.ai team / Photo credit: Pand.ai

According to a statement, the unnamed backer is a barrister based in Hong Kong who has invested in more than 10 ventures across China, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Founded in 2016, Pand.ai develops multiplatform-capable chatbots that uses a proprietary natural language processing engine that can understand languages such as English, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Bahasa Malaysia, and Bahasa Indonesia. Its offerings range from conceptualizing and data cleaning to testing and running the live bot post-production.

With the new investment, the startup looks to bolster its executive team. To that extent, the company announced that James Tan, who has been the nonexecutive chairman of its advisory board since February, is set to take on the newly created role of executive-in-residence.

Tan, who formerly served as CEO of Tokio Marine Life Singapore (TMLS), is set to lead Pand.ai’s insurance business across Asia Pacific. Prior to TMLS, Tan also held various senior management positions at financial firms such as AIA, Bain & Company, Friends Provident, and Standard Chartered Bank.

TMLS is also one of Pand.ai’s current clients, according to the statement, alongside Schroders Asset Management, Bangkok Bank, Great Eastern Life, and Allianz.

See: Finance chatbot builder snags big clients, hits profitability after 18 months

Back in June, Pand.ai co-founder and CEO Shin Wee said that the company is looking to raise “a few more millions” within six to nine months in a pre-series A round. However, he declined to be more specific on the matter.

Pand.ai operates in the same space as Active.ai, which offers a proprietary conversational AI platform for institutions, insurance companies, and capital markets.

In 2017, Active.ai raised US$8.25 million in a series A round co-led by Vertex Ventures, CreditEase, and Dream Incubator.