Uniphore’s Conversational Service Automation Platform to be Leveraged for WNS' EXPIRIUS

Uniphore, an early leader in Conversational Service Automation, today announced that it will be providing its advanced conversational service automation platform to WNS, a leading Business Process Management (BPM) company, for its recently-launched digital CX Solution, EXPIRIUS.

WNS will leverage Uniphore’s AI and automation capabilities to offer unique digital Customer Experience (CX) solutions integrating human-assisted design and domain expertise through EXPIRIUS.

“The message coming in from customers is loud and clear. They want better experiences. Yet, current economic and societal challenges are preventing organizations from meeting those demands in a cost-effective manner,” said Umesh Sachdev, CEO and co-founder of Uniphore. “WNS’ global expertise and their new CX solution, combined with our AI and Automation-driven technology platform can truly transform the industry.”

“It is our constant endeavour to understand our customer’s domain and co-create impactful solutions that can transform their businesses with agility and excellence. Our promise of outperformance stems from our deep domain expertise, partnership approach and a global delivery network,” said Keshav Murugesh, Group CEO, WNS. “We will be able to further strengthen our customer service capabilities with Uniphore’s offerings and deliver exceptional experiences to clients,” he added.

WNS will be able to accelerate customer response management, automate processes that will optimize efficiencies and reduce costs while enhancing customer experience by utilizing Uniphore’s Real Intent^TM solutions.

“In today’s world, customer support needs are constantly evolving and new levels of capability and technology are required for success,” said Jafar Syed, Chief Growth Officer for Uniphore. “This strategic partnership with WNS brings the benefits of their global expertise and our industry-leading technical capabilities that will ultimately help drive business transformation by delivering new customer experiences.”

Uniphore Raises $51 Mn in Series C Funding led by March Capital Partners, Others

Chennai headquartered Uniphore, the global conversational AI technology company, is gaining momentum and announced today it raised $51M in Series C funding led by March Capital Partners, with participation from Chiratae Ventures (formerly IDG Ventures), Sistema Asia, CXO Fund, ITP, Iron Pillar, Patni Family, plus other investors. The new round of funding is Uniphore’s largest to date and marks one of the most substantial funding rounds in the conversational AI sector.

Uniphore will use the funds to accelerate its go-to-market in North America, invest in research and development for the next wave of innovation on its platform and grow its talented employee base globally.

“Today’s announcement of our Series C funding represents a major milestone for Uniphore and the Conversational AI market as a whole. This funding will accelerate our vision to redefine customer service through AI-enabled Conversational Service Automation (CSA). We have always been strong innovators, and our global customers continue to rely on our solutions to help them deliver exceptional customer service. With this new round of funding, we will be able to accelerate our global expansion and better serve our customers by developing and delivering innovative CSA solutions to more organizations around the world,” said Umesh Sachdev, CEO and Cofounder, Uniphore.

Sumant Mandal, Managing Director of March Capital Partners, added: “Uniphore recognized early on that the customer service industry had fundamental limitations which were not being addressed. Brands were not building meaningful relationships with their customers because they were simply reacting, rather than being proactive. Uniphore’s conversational AI technology is changing the way brands are serving and engaging with their customers. Uniphore’s unique technology enables a proactive approach by recognizing the true intent of customer calls and predicting what is coming next.

Uniphore is not only anticipating what the future of customer service will be – they are leading the charge, and we look forward to working closely with them as they continue to innovate. We are excited to be part of the journey of a world-class team building globally competitive products at Uniphore.”

John Chambers, CEO and founder of JC2 Ventures, and an active advisor to Uniphore, who picked up a 10% stake in Uniphore in 2017, welcomed the funding: “Uniphore’s continued success is a testament to the company’s ability to foresee the next market transition and evolve the business model based on that insight promptly. Uniphore’s innovative conversational AI solutions address the growing needs of businesses to provide personalized customer experiences more efficiently and effectively. I believe Umesh and his team are well positioned to revolutionize the customer service industry while continuing to expand the market share. I echo March Capital’s sentiment that the future is extremely bright for Uniphore.”

Most recently, Uniphore CEO Umesh Sachdev moved to Silicon Valley to expand the company’s reach in North America. The move has paved the way for several strategic new hires. Annie Weckesser, veteran of Cisco and NIO, joined as Chief Marketing and People Officer in April. Additionally, in May, Jafar Syed, joined as Chief Strategy & Growth Officer from NTT Data, and in June, Karen Smith, former executive at Directly and Convergys, started with Uniphore as Chief Revenue Officer.

Additionally, Mary Ann Bianco joined as Chief Customer Officer after leading customer success for Oracle’s Cloud SaaS applications business. In July, Ashwin Chalapathy joined as Managing Director in India and Senior Vice President, Services, Asia Pacific. In 2018, the company experienced 300% year-over-year growth and the year prior, Uniphore had an exciting Series B round with participation by various existing and new investors including IDG Ventures, IIFL and JC2 Ventures. Some of Uniphore’s customers include BNP Paribas, NTT Data, and PNB MetLife.

Uniphore Appoints Annie Weckesser as Chief Marketing and People Officer

Chennai and California-based Uniphore, the global conversational AI technology company, announced today it has expanded its leadership team and appointed Annie Weckesser as Chief Marketing and People Officer. In this role, Weckesser will lead all aspects of Uniphore’s global marketing and communications, as well as the company’s talent strategy and management.

For the past three years, Weckesser was part of the leadership team at NIO, a next-generation car company, leading U.S. communications from startup to IPO. Prior to NIO, Weckesser held various strategic communications and marketing roles for nine years for Cisco, the global technology giant. Throughout her career, she has counselled and partnered with some of the world’s most senior corporate and government leaders and their teams.

Based in California, Weckesser’s new leadership role underscores Uniphore’s goal to expand the business within the U.S. market and its commitment to building a strong culture for over 150 global employees. With more than 15 years of marketing and communications experience, Weckesser is perfectly suited to not only build on the success Uniphore has seen since its inception in 2008 but also contribute to future growth.

“I am thrilled to welcome Annie to our executive team,” said Umesh Sachdev, Co-founder and CEO, Uniphore, of Weckesser’s appointment. “We are in hyper-growth mode and her extensive marketing and communications experience – as well as her track record for building great teams – is exactly the kind of expertise we need to bring Uniphore to the next level. Having Annie on-board will help us to achieve success across the markets we serve.”

“I am excited to join Uniphore and help the team enter this next growth phase,” said Weckesser. “I look forward to building exceptional customer service experiences for our clients through our innovative technology. We will focus on attracting and retaining great talent to lead an industry that is increasingly driven by automation and AI.”
About Uniphore

Uniphore is a global Conversational AI technology company. Uniphore’s vision is to redefine the customer service experience of the future through AI enabled Conversational Service Automation. Uniphore enables businesses globally to deliver transformational customer service by providing an integrated suite of software products for Conversational Analytics, Conversational Assistant and Conversational Security. It has offices in USA, Singapore and India.

[Via Business Wire India]

Uniphore Appoints Industry Veteran Baskar Subramanian as New Board Member

Uniphore Software Systems, a Chennai-based speech recognition solutions company, proudly announced the appointment of Baskar Subramanian as a Board Member. Baskar will help Uniphore formulate its overall strategy with special emphasis on geographical expansions, strategic partnerships, and affiliations.

Baskar founded Servion Global Solutions Limited, a global end-to-end consulting-led organisation in proactive customer experience in 1992, and pioneered voice automation and computer telephony technologies for many enterprises in India, Middle East, Asia Pacific and the United States.

Speaking on the appointment, Umesh Sachdev, CEO & co-founder, Uniphore Software Systems expressed, “It brings us great honour to have Baskar on board. His vision will empower our future growth plans, while his vast experience and understanding of the industry will surely prove as an asset. We are very excited to work with him and I am sure we will together attain great milestones in the future.”

Baskar Subramanian commented, “I am extremely elated to be part of the Uniphore team. Uniphore’s products are transforming the customer-interaction management space. Uniphore is a rare example of an Indian software company that is successfully monetizing cutting-edge intellectual property and I am excited to help accelerate the company’s growth. I look forward to working with the executive team and sharing my experience and expertise as they build out a world-class company.”

Baskar Subramanian is an industry veteran with over 25 years of thought leadership in Unified Communications, Customer Interaction Management, and Collaboration technologies. He was instrumental in forging strategic relationships with the likes of Avaya & Cisco and has a track record of creating significant value for all stakeholders of Servion.

Baskar holds a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from REC-Trichy, University of Madras, India, and a master’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Texas, Austin. Baskar is also the founder and board member at Green Quotient Systems, a technology venture in the Cloud Computing, DevOps, and Mobility space.

Uniphore Software Systems is headquartered in IIT Madras Research Park, Chennai. The company was incubated in IIT Chennai, India in 2008 and currently has offices in India, Philippines, and U.A.E with 100 employees spread across all locations. Uniphore’s investors include Kris Gopalakrishnan, IDG Ventures India, India Angel Network, Yournest Fund, Stata Ventures. The firm has worked with over 70 enterprise customers and served over 4 million end users.