Bahasa.ai Receives Seed Funding From East Ventures

Bahasa.ai, an NLP/NLU (Natural Language Processing/Understanding) platform development startup for Bahasa Indonesia, receives seed funding from East Ventures. The value is undisclosed. The plan is to use funding for accelerating mission to develop artificial intelligence platform.

Previously, Hokiman Kurniawan, Bahasa.ai's Co-Founder and CEO, has explained its business strategy in an interview with DailySocial. Its focus is to produce more comprehensive Bahasa Indonesia skills for machines. One of which is applied in chatbot.

Melisa Irene, East Ventures' Principal, said that the NLP / NLU-based platform developed by Bahasa.ai will be very relevant in Indonesia, because of unique variants and dialects in Bahasa Indonesia.

In daily communication, the non-KBBI slang and spelling terms keep showing and being used. Artificial Intelligence-based solutions, combined with machine learning, can improve the computer skills in understanding Bahasa Indonesia. Therefore, when being implemented (for chatbot, as an example) will become more attractive.

Samsul Rahmadani, Bahasa.ai's Head of AI, said in his statement, by increasing artificial intelligence technology, brands are expected to produce communication channels which capable to interact naturally and personally. Bahasa.ai introduces PaaS products to help brands or businesses in developing a chatbot strategy.

Competition among local chatbots

Creating artificial intelligence is not an easy deal, but many local startups are counting their luck in this vertical. Currently, there are many startups targeting AI-based products segment, particularly in chatbot implementation. They are Kata.ai, Botika, Bang Joni, Eva, and many others.

The development can't be separated from industrial needs. Business players are competing to present new ways which more effective and efficient in terms of customer service. Chatbot-based solutions are considered capable to accommodate these needs. Many companies are already adopting, from telecommunications, bankings, and some e-commerce services.

– Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian