Vancouver-based startup Finn AI has been acquired by its former partner Glia, a SaaS company based in the United States (US).
“Until now, none of the financial services bot vendors have been able to achieve widespread adoption on their own.”
– Glia CEO Dan Michaeli
Finn and Glia previously worked together to build an integrated chatbot into Glia’s digital customer service platform in 2020. According to Finn, the chatbot is able to understand and process over five hundred common banking queries and tasks.
Founded in 2014 by Jake Tyler (CEO), Natalie Cartwright (COO), and Guru Atlu (CTO), Finn provides artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled chatbots for banks and credit unions. In addition to Glia, Finn has also worked with Visa, BMO, United Federal Credit Union, EQ Bank, and ATB Financial.
Prior to the acquisition, Finn had raised around $17.5 million in total funding to date. The startup previously won $50,000 in 2017 from CapGemini’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Award, raised $3 million in 2017, and a $14 million Series A in 2018.
According to both Finn and Glia, the deal aims to mainstream virtual assistants for financial services companies by making Finn’s conversational AI solutions an integral part of Glia’s digital customer service offering.
“Until now, none of the financial services bot vendors have been able to achieve widespread adoption on their own,” said Dan Michaeli, co-founder and CEO of Glia. “Glia’s large and rapidly growing customer base, combined with solid financial backing to accelerate the pace of innovation, immediately brings that scale. Finn AI is a strong fit for Glia based on its technology, market approach and company culture.”
Since its inception in 2012, Glia claims that it has partnered with over 300 banks, credit unions, insurance companies and other financial institutions.
RELATED: Finn AI closes $14 million Series A with Yaletown Partners, Flying Fish Partners
Glia provides companies with a platform that is designed to deliver an in-person customer experience online. Using Glia, businesses can identify and engage with their web visitors through video, voice, chat, and co-browsing.
Glia has raised over $150 million in total funding to date, and recently reached a valuation of $1 billion after securing $45 million in Series D funding.
As a result of its acquisition of Finn, Glia said it will maintain and expand the Finn AI Canadian office to establish a “conversational AI Centre of Excellence,” in line with Glia’s global expansion strategy. Additionally, Finn AI’s management team will assume leadership positions within Glia to further develop AI automation and virtual assistant solutions for Glia’s platform.
