Aiello Inc. (https://aiello.ai/）;(Aiello), a leading Natural Language 
Processing and Voice AI startup, announced it has raised US$5.8M in a Series 
Pre-A+ funding round led by two major institutional investors, JAFCO Asia 
(https://jafcoasia.com/) and Wistron Corporation(https://www.wistron.com/). The 
existing investor Cornerstone Ventures(https://cornerstonevc.tw/en/mainpage/) 
also participated in the round. Aiello has raised a total of over US$10 million 
in funding since its inception four years ago. 

The company's flagship product, Aiello Voice Assistant (AVA), is the most 
advanced NLU-based solution dedicated to hospitality. This year, the number of 
AVA equipped guest rooms is expected to increase an impressive 2.5x compared to 
2021. Over the past six months, Aiello has won multiple international hotel 
contracts in Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, and several leading 
hotel brands recently signed corporate level service contracts with the 
company. The new funds will be used to further accelerate customer acquisition, 
expand the solution to international markets, and launch new products. 

"Our data shows that AVA has reduced front desk workloads in hotels where it is 
deployed by approximately 30%. For a hotel with 200 rooms, that represents more 
than 300 hours of labor time in 6 months", says Vic Shen, founder, and CEO of 
Aiello. "According to our findings, our AI voice assistant also helps hotels 
increase their social media exposure by up to 10 times, largely thanks to 
guests sharing their experiences." At the same time, AVA drives additional 
revenue for hotels, increases the proportion of direct bookings, and encourages 
hotel guest loyalty. It analyzes the needs and usage behaviors of guests during 
their stay and extracts data which can be used to improve hotel management. 

Founded in January 2019, with a founding team from Google, Qualcomm, and HTC, 
Aiello's expertise relies on its in-house Natural Language Processing (NLP) and 
Machine Learning (ML) models. Currently the startup's AI-solutions process more 
than 900,000 speech, and text interactions per month in Chinese, English, Thai, 
and Japanese.  

Aiello closed its Pre-A round last year (2021) by co-lead investor Chunghwa 
PCHome Fund No.1 (a joint venture-capital fund established by Chunghwa Telecom 
Group (TWS 2412) and PCHOME Online Inc. (TWS 8044)) managed by Cornerstone 
Ventures(https://cornerstonevc.tw/en/mainpage/), Zylux Acoustic Corporation, 
and ColoplNext, a CVC from well-known Japanese listed gaming company Colopl. 
Notably, this was ColoplNext's first investment into an AI start-up based in 
Taiwan. 

"We are excited to have JAFCO Asia and Wistron to join as Aiello investors", 
Vic says. "We believe JAFCO and Wistron's strong network and knowledge can 
bring Aiello to great heights. The new funds will be used to accelerate 
business in international markets, especially in Japan and Thailand, where we 
see a good traction. We also plan to boost Research & Development and launch a 
new product, a 'Conversation Intelligence Platform' that aim at improving 
corporate sales and meeting efficiency. This platform, which focuses on 
AI-driven Voice & Audio analysis and collaboration, is expected to be launched 
by the end of this year." 

JAFCO Asia (https://jafcoasia.com/)is a group of JAFCO Group 
(https://www.jafco.co.jp/english/) Co., Ltd. (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 8595), 
Japan's leading venture capital firm. John Lin, Managing Director of JAFCO Asia 
Taiwan, remarks, "Aiello is one of the few AI companies in Asia with a scalable 
business model. In the post-pandemic era, the labor shortage and digital 
transformation of enterprises are visible trends. We expect that the demand for 
artificial intelligence and intelligent voice in enterprises will be higher and 
higher, and Aiello is bound to play an important role. "

For more information, please go to: www.aiello.ai 

[Press Contact] 
Mathieu Delafosse
Mobile: +886 961 233 290
Email: mathieu@aiello.ai

SOURCE: Aiello Inc.

Image Attachments Links:

   Link: https://iop.asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=430899

   Caption: [Image] The Aiello Voice Assistant (AVA) has been introduced in 
several international hotel brands in Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore

   Link: https://iop.asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=430904

   Caption: [Image] Vic Shen, Founder and CEO of Aiello Inc, will expand the 
company into the Japanese market by relying on the investors' footprints in 
Japan and their expertise in software and hardware solutions