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| SleekFlow Secures Additional $7 Million to Expand Conversational AI Platform Across Asia, Middle East, and Europe Image credit: SleekFlow |
SleekFlow, a social commerce platform headquartered in Singapore and Hong Kong, has successfully raised an additional $7 million in funding. The startup aims to use this capital to enhance its AI capabilities and strengthen its presence in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. This new round of funding reflects the rapid growth of social commerce, where sellers use platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, and TikTok to engage with customers and drive sales.
The Rise of Social Commerce and Conversational AI
Social commerce is experiencing faster growth than traditional e-commerce, with the Asia Pacific region alone expected to reach a market value of $894 million by 2028. A key component of this trend is conversational AI, which enables sellers to scale customer service efficiently while maintaining lean operations. By leveraging AI-driven chat functions, businesses can automate responses, analyze consumer behavior, and tailor interactions to different audiences. The global conversational AI market is projected to soar to $49.9 billion by 2030, up from $13.2 billion in 2024.
Competitive Edge Through Streamlined Features
In a crowded market of conversational AI solutions, SleekFlow distinguishes itself with a suite of streamlined features. These include omnichannel capabilities that allow marketing across multiple platforms from a single dashboard, marketing automation, and a flexible flow builder for creating unique chat experiences. The platform also supports in-chat payment links, team collaboration, CRM integrations with HubSpot and Salesforce, and e-commerce functionalities. CEO Henson Tsai highlighted plans to further enhance the platform with fully automated sales and support journeys across voice, calls, and email.
Strategic Appointments and Global Operations
SleekFlow recently appointed Gao Lei, an AI and big data expert with over two decades of experience in Silicon Valley, as its Chief Technology Officer. This appointment marks a significant boost in the company’s engineering efforts, keeping it at the cutting edge of AI innovation. Currently, SleekFlow operates in regions including Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil, and the UAE. Notably, consumer behavior in Indonesia is rapidly shifting towards online shopping, and the high spending power in Saudi Arabia and the UAE positions these markets as crucial for social commerce expansion.
Growing Client Base and Revenue
SleekFlow operates on a multi-tier SaaS business model, with an optional add-on for setting up and managing WhatsApp Business messaging channels. The platform is widely used by sales and marketing teams across various sectors, including insurance, healthcare, telecom, and retail. Among its customers are Hong Kong Broadband Networks (HKBN), De'Longhi, online furniture company Cellini, and Malaysia's Khind.
Despite not disclosing its valuation, SleekFlow has raised a total of $15 million to date, including a previous $8 million Series A round led by Tiger Global. The company’s annual recurring revenue (ARR) has surged to $8-9 million by June 2024, up from $1-2 million in December 2022. Its staff count has also grown from 60 to 160, with over 5,000 customers globally.
Strategic Investors and Future Prospects
The latest funding round was led by Seoul-based Atinum Investment, with participation from existing investors AEF Greater Bay Area Fund and Transcend Capital Partners, along with Moses Tsang, former general partner at Goldman Sachs Group and Chairman of Goldman Sachs Asia LLC. The strategic investment positions SleekFlow for continued growth as it looks to solidify its leadership in the rapidly expanding social commerce and conversational AI markets.
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