DXwand, an Egyptian startup that provides conversational artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, raised $1 million in a pre-series A investment round led by Shanghai-based Huashan Capital.
The round saw participation from angel investors Mohsen Abulleil and Ahmed Bakeer. US-based venture capital (VC) firm SOSV, the earliest investor in DXwand’s seed round, has also supported the due diligence and syndication of the fundraising round.
DXwand will be using this funding to boost its growth across the region, the statement said, without specifying the countries it aims to expand into. The startup will be using the proceeds to increase its market share and speed up its AI research.
“The DXwand team is very well positioned thanks to their proprietary Arabic dialects NLP (natural language processing) and personalized recommendations engines…DXwand was one of the first investments for SOSV in MENA; the positive experience led [to] more than a dozen investments in the region,” said Oscar Ramos, SOSV General Partner.
DXwand has been achieving “11X year-over-year growth,” Founder and CEO Ahmed Mahmoud said, adding “we look forward to propelling this success even more in the coming period.”
The startup is capable of decreasing customer service time by 70%, reducing the manpower needed, and driving up to 3 times higher customer engagement, said David Chen, the Managing Partner at Huashan Capital. “AI-powered services are blossoming across the globe in every customer-facing interaction,” he added.
DXwand is an AI-driven software that automates text and voice in call centers, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, via SMS, or on a website. Its conversational AI tool comprehends slang in both Arabic and English and can extract insights from conversations and display them on dashboards for businesses to make instant, informed decisions. Their analytical platform and dashboards support business growth by transforming conversations into leads and sales with a focus on customer retention and acquisition.
