UK tech startup Humley lands funding

UK-based Humley, a developer of conversational AI assistants, has secured 700,000 pounds in funding. The investor was MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund.

PRESS RELEASE

7th October, 2020. Northamptonshire, UK – Humley, a company which develops innovative Conversational AI Assistants today announced that it has secured £700k investment to support its rapid growth trajectory. Humley secured the investment from the MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund, which is managed by Mercia and part of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund, Mercia’s own EIS funds and a private investor. The funding, which follows an earlier round by private investors, brings the total raised by the company to £1.4m and will allow the team to grow its customer base and revenue ahead of a planned Series A funding round early next year.

Humley’s conversational AI technology has gained traction with two of the world’s leading professional services networking organisations who recognise and deploy its best in class solutions globally. The investment round will be used to bolster Humley’s own sales and marketing strategy as it expands to grow its partnership channels and target customers directly.

Enterprises deploy Humley’s technology to automate the handling of inbound communications, queries and requests received from employees, customers and suppliers using AI powered Conversational interfaces. The technology uses natural language processing and machine learning making end user interactions ‘human-like’ and meaningful, incredibly quick and efficient. Humley’s platform can support a broad range of needs, from simpler, FAQ type chatbots, to complex multi-function and multi-channel enterprise Conversational Assistants.

Enterprises significantly improve productivity and efficiencies, freeing up the time of employees to focus on more complex requests and deliver true value to organisations. Uniquely, Humley’s solution is deployed out-of-the-box, requiring very little system integration and works seamlessly with a number of leading SaaS enterprise solution providers – reducing use case set up time to under 60 minutes.

Humley’s solution is deployed in a wide variety of use cases and delivers automation efficiencies across processes such as Internal help desks, Customer Service support and departmental knowledge base searches. Humley’s platform supports employees, managers and customers by automating repetitive tasks and aiding them in finding the information they need – whether they want technical details of a product, help to search a database, query an order, updating an insurance claim, finding a research paper – or for internal functions such as booking business travel.

Humley recently announced the launch of Humley HR Assistant, a dedicated and optimized solution for HR Teams. Humley HR Assistant delivers significant efficiencies & valuable employee experiences through intelligently automating repetitive manually intensive HR tasks and processes by 30% freeing up valuable time to spend on more complex and strategic HR issues.

Commenting on the investment, Adam Harrold, CEO, Humley, said: “This investment round represents a significant endorsement of our technology. The conversational AI market is busy, but as we have already proven our unique approach ensures we are well placed for the next stage in our growth,”

Stephen Windsor at Mercia, added: “Conversational AI assistants are a cost-effective way for companies to deliver high quality, 24/7 customer service across a range of channels. We were impressed by Humley’s platform which is much easier to use, quicker to deploy and more cost-effective than its competitors. We are excited to be supporting Adam and the team as they scale up the business ahead of the next investment round.”

Ken Cooper, Managing Director at the British Business Bank, said: “Supporting innovation is one of the key objectives for the Midlands Engine Investment Fund. This investment will enable the firm to continue on its growth trajectory and I’d encourage other SMEs in the Midlands that are looking to grow to also consider the options available through the MEIF.”
Vicky Hlomuka, Growth Hub Manager at the South East Midlands LEP, said: “Humley has shown that innovative businesses can grow and develop at a quick pace. It is important that these businesses in our area have the opportunity for investment to grow and innovate further. It is great to see the investment from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund support them in their journey to further scale up.”

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.

About Humley
Humley is a UK based technology innovator of Conversational AI. Founded in 2014, Humley provides a platform for rapidly deploying conversational interfaces for enterprise businesses across a wide variety of functions including Sales and Services, HR, Finance and IT. Humley enables enterprises to generate operational efficiencies and improve employee and customer experiences through the provision of a 24/7 AI powered conversational assistant. Humley partners with two of the big four global consultancies, delivering interactional gains to their customers across Europe and the United States. Humley serves customers across a broad range of industries including telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, retail, and financial services.
www.humley.com