Palona AI gets $10M to build more reliable customer service chatbots
Three AI engineers, with experience at Google LLC, Meta Platforms Inc., and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., have secured $10 million for their new startup Palona AI. The funding round was led by UpHonest Capital, with participation from Fusion Fund, NEO Investment Partners, and angel investors including Maynard Webb. Palona AI, also known as Proactive AI Lab Inc., is focused on enhancing AI-powered customer sales chatbots to be more reliable and emotionally attuned.
Innovative Solutions for Enhanced Customer Service
The use of customer service chatbots has gained popularity in recent years, driven by advancements in large language models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Brands are leveraging chatbots to streamline customer support processes, triaging simpler queries before escalating complex issues to human agents. Additionally, chatbots play a role in product discovery and have even started replacing traditional search engines for some users.
Despite the benefits, AI chatbots have faced challenges such as susceptibility to misleading interactions and recommending competitor products. Palona AI aims to address these issues by collaborating with OpenAI to develop AI models that remain on-topic and align with a brand’s identity.
Customized AI Sales Agents
Palona AI works closely with consumer brands to create tailored AI sales agents capable of upselling products and delivering personalized recommendations. By integrating proprietary data such as training manuals, FAQs, and marketing materials, Palona AI fine-tunes its models to accurately represent each brand.
Leading the team at Palona AI is co-founder and CEO Maria Zhang, who brings extensive experience from Google and Meta. Zhang emphasizes the importance of creating engaging interactions that mimic human-like conversations, fostering brand loyalty and delivering personalized experiences to customers.
Joining Zhang are Chief Technology Officer Tim Howes, a former leader at Meta, and Chief Scientist Steve Liu, who previously held a similar role at Samsung.
