An Australian-founder artificial intelligence and data startup has raised $6.8 million ($US5.2 million) from one of the world’s biggest VC firms to further develop its technology and accelerate global growth.
Nugit provides an automated data extraction platform for marketers to make data-driven decisions, combining artificial intelligence, natural language generation and visual design to improve efficiency.
The end result is to turn “fragmented marketing data into decision-making tools”.
Founded in 2013 by Australian entrepreneur David Sanderson, the Singapore-based startup now manages nearly 150,000 ad accounts for over 500 brands in 34 countries, with clients including Facebook and Johnson & Johnson.
The cash injection in Nugit comes from Sequoia India and will be used to further develop the tech platform and expand operations in existing markets, Sanderson says.
“Sequoia India’s investment will help us accelerate our R&D and push the boundaries in these areas,” Sanderson says.
The Nugit platform extracts marketing data automatically to produce decision-ready reports, helping to greatly reduce reporting time for clients, Sanderson says.
“Many of the legacy systems that are being used to manage marketing data are slow, over-priced and take months to implement,” he says.
“We believe analytics can be much leaner and more intelligent, by leveraging technologies such as AI and machine learning.”
The funding round follows an earlier seed round led by 500 Startups and The Hub Singapore.
Sequoia investment advisor Pieter Kemps says the simplicity of the Nugit platform and the lucrative market it operates in led the decision to invest.
“We were thrilled to see the world-class engineering team and the fast adoption from enterprises, publishers and agencies,” Kemps says.
“It has been impressive to see the intelligence of the Nugit platform, and how it offers enhanced efficiency and clarity to marketers.
“Nugit is part of a trend where global SaaS businesses are being built from Asia.”
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