These days, it seems like every company wants to offer, or already does, an AI product or service. This is a very good time for startups building AI products in this space, but it is not without its challenges. The technology is still in its infancy, and while many companies are interested in trying generative AI solutions, adoption has been slow. .
There are many reasons for this, but the biggest one seems to be the fear of hallucinations caused by AI. “I can't use it. [AI] If you lie, it will impact the production environments of large enterprises,” said Pavitar Singh, co-founder and CEO of UnifyApps.
Singh feels his startup has a good solution for that. UnifyApps essentially connects a company's SaaS apps and data to each other, allowing companies to build and deploy their own AI chatbots on top of it to interact with all their information. This approach helps minimize AI hallucinations, he says, because UnifyApps' agents can essentially vet each other's work based on the company's data.
UnifyApps is a first in an already crowded field. Large companies such as Workato and Zapier already offer similar “integration” services, as do many other startups. But Singh believes his startup's AI-focused approach, which includes the ability to build AI chatbots, gives it an edge. “Companies can build as many agents as they want. Agents can help with human resources, sales, marketing, legal and finance,” he said.
While businesses may be hesitant to adopt generative AI, Singh said UnifyApps has already attracted more than 20 customers, including one of the world's largest banks and a major telecommunications provider.
Image credit: UnifyApps
Good traction is great for young startups, and investors seem to agree. The company just raised a $20 million Series A funding round from ICONIQ Growth, less than six months after UnifyApps closed an $11 million seed round.
Singh founded UnifyApps last year after spending more than 11 years as CTO of Sprinklr, a customer experience management platform for global brands that went public in 2021.
Only a small portion of ICONIQ Growth's investments have been in Series A startups, but the company knew Singh well. “Pavitar was a mad scientist genius who was developing all these amazing products for Sprinklr,” said Matt Jacobson, general partner at ICONIQ.
ICONIQ invested in Sprinklr's Series D in 2014, and Mr. Jacobson was a longtime director of the company. He said he was so impressed with Singh and what he was doing with UnifyApps that he couldn't pass up investing in the startup.
“AI applications are much more risky,” Jacobson said.
UnifyApps has 150 employees across offices in Gurgaon, Dubai, and New York.
As for why the company has such a large team, Singh said UnifyApps wants to ensure its product is perfect and can be “safely deployed” by large enterprises.