Uniphore – Company Profile

Uniphore is one of the leading providers of conversational automation technology. The company was founded in 2008, as part of an incubation program at IIT Madras. Over the years, the company has expanded operations globally. Uniphore is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, U.S. It has presence in US, India, Singapore, Spain, Japan and Israel.

Key focus areas for Uniphore have been developing specialized software for a wide variety of conversational automation across virtual assistants, analytics and security. With rapid advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning, virtual conversations have emerged as a preferred option to connect with the target audience. Using Uniphore’s conversational AI and automation platform, organizations can significantly boost efficiency of their contact centers and sales processes. Uniphore caters to segments like banking, healthcare, telecom and B2B tech support.

History

Initially, Uniphore focused on solutions that enabled voice-based internet access for people living in rural areas. Uniphore was providing services to entities like banks, microfinance firms and telecom companies. Voice recognition technology was meant to benefit customers, who were unlikely to visit online channels like websites or apps to get the information or services they need. Uniphore utilized its voice recognition technology to launch services such as voice education, voice banking and voice healthcare.

With experience, the founders realized that their voice recognition technology has a lot more potential. They were also getting contacted by businesses that wanted to use the voice recognition technology for their call centers. As even global entities showed interest in their voice recognition platform, Uniphore started developing more advanced solutions such as voice authentication and virtual assistant products. Since then, the company has emerged as a leading conversational automation services provider.

Funding

Uniphore has received investments worth $620.9 million via 8 rounds of funding. Some of the key investors include Sorenson Capital, March Capital, IIFL Finance, JC2 Ventures, Chiratae Ventures, Indian Angel Network and YourNest Venture Capital. In Series E funding round in February 2022, the company raised $400 million. This funding round was led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA). Subsequently, Uniphore’s valuation touched $2.5 billion, marking its entry in the Unicorn club.

Acquisitions

Over the years, Uniphore has acquired multiple companies to boost its service capabilities. Some of the key acquisitions include Emotion Research Lab, Jacada and Colabo.

Competitors

Uniphore competes with rivals such as Cresta, Balto, Cogito, Verint Systems, ASAPP and Five9.

About the founders

Uniphore was founded by Umesh Sachdev and Ravi Saraogi. Umesh currently serves as the CEO at Uniphore. He had studied at Jaypee Institute of Information Technology. Co-founder Ravi currently serves as the President at Uniphore. He had earlier worked with Mobile Payment Forum of India and TeNet. Ravi is also an alumnus of Jaypee Institute of Information Technology.