- Rasa has raised $30 million in Series C funding for its generative AI for financial services solution.
- The round was co-led by StepStone Group and PayPal Ventures.
- Rasa was the first AI-related investment for PayPal Ventures’ new AI Fund.
With two of the world’s top three banks, two of the largest U.S. banks, and American Express among its customers, PayPal Ventures’ first AI-based investment, a company called Rasa, is well on its way toward making a name for itself in the “Generative AI for financial services” space.
“This investment accelerates our lead in the market, and fuels our drive to redefine what is possible for businesses using generative AI-powered chat and voice platforms at scale,” Rasa CEO Melissa Gordon explained. “With our technology, we’re well-positioned to transform how businesses interact with their customers, making every conversation impactful and personal. We will use the funding to advance our technological leadership and strengthen our market presence.”
Founded in 2016, and boasting a remote-first presence in San Francisco, London, Paris, Berlin, and Belgrade, Rasa secured $30 million in Series C funding for its conversational AI platform last week. StepStone Group and PayPal Ventures co-led the round, which featured participation from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Accel, and Basis Set Ventures. At this time, updated valuation information was not available. The fresh capital will enable Rasa to grow its team, the company noted in a statement. Rasa is looking to add talent across both North America and Europe in a variety of roles, including marketing and engineering.
Rasa’s technology powers sophisticated and robust AI assistants that support user engagement. Additionally, the company leverages Conversational AI with Language Models (CALM) to offer solutions that combine the flexibility and nuance of Large Language Models (LLMs) with the control and certainty of traditional, NLU-based chatbots. Currently deployed in a pair of solutions, Rasa Pro and Rasa Studio, the CALM-based technology keeps interactions coherent and natural.
“At Rasa we’ve reinvented how conversational AI works,” Rasa co-founder and CTO Dr. Alan Nichol said. “While many in the industry claim to incorporate generative AI, often it’s merely an addition of LLMs onto their existing platforms.”
Rasa is the first investment from PayPal Ventures’ new AI fund. Launched with the mission of investing in early stage AI startups from multiple industries and verticals, the fund is a recognition of opportunities for real-world applications of AI in fields from customer success and compliance to risk and personalization.
“We are thrilled to mark the launch of our AI Fund with our investment in Rasa,” PayPal Ventures partner Alan Du said. “We believe Rasa offers a best-in-class platform for enterprises to develop robust, conversational AI, and we have seen how its concierge solutions improve customer engagement and business performance.”
Rasa is competing in a crowded space as more financial institutions and businesses embrace AI as a tool for enhancing the customer experience. Among Finovate alums alone, companies such as Kore.ai and boost.ai, as well as Best of Show winners like Finn.ai and Voca.ai, have demonstrated the capacity of AI-based solutions to transform the way financial services companies engage their customers. Other alums – ranging from SESAMm to ForwardLane to Kognitos – have demonstrated a variety of applications using Generative AI specifically.