The funding deals keep coming for startups developing businesses around artificial-intelligence technologies. The latest is Talla, which is working on a text-based virtual assistant for corporate functions such as recruiting and human resources.
We first reported that Cambridge, MA-based Talla was raising a seed round. That deal appears to have closed, as a regulatory filing shows the startup has raised just over $4 million in funding.
Talla’s investors include Avalon Ventures, Hyperplane Venture Capital, Converge Venture Partners, Stage 1 Ventures, Charlie O’Donnell from Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, and Jason Calacanis’s Launch fund. The company previously raised a $600,000 convertible note from angel investors last year. Talla confirms that the new money in is about $3.5 million.
Talla is led by founder and CEO Rob May, who previously ran Backupify, a data-backup company that was acquired by Datto in late 2014 for about $90 million. Avalon and Calacanis were also investors in Backupify, which raised about $20 million while it was independent.
Author: Gregory T. Huang
Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003.
Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
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