Zendesk launches global venture fund to back AI startups

Zendesk, a customer service SaaS firm, has launched Zendesk Ventures, a global venture fund to support early-stage AI-first startups focused on enhancing customer and employee experiences. 

Apart from capital, Zendesk Ventures also aims to provide expertise in customer experience (CX) and artificial intelligence (AI) and identify strategic partnership opportunities to fuel growth for emerging startups in the sector.

"Every organisation is on a path to becoming AI-driven, and we’re eager to form partnerships with companies leading this new era. Our goal extends beyond building our own products; we’re also supporting an ecosystem of startups whose visions align with ours," said Ben Barclay, SVP of Strategy, Corporate Development and Transformation, Zendesk.

"Customer and employee service is changing rapidly because of advancements in AI. Investing in these companies does more than drive their growth, it elevates our customers’ ability to provide exceptional interactions," he added.

The California-based firm has invested in PolyAI, a developer specialising in advanced conversational voice assistants, and unitQ, a platform powered by AI for customer feedback. Its portfolio companies include Observe.AI, a conversational intelligence platform, and Zuper, a field service management software provider. 

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“With the Make AI in India initiative by the Union government, the AI startup ecosystem is booming in India. Unique value propositions and immense growth potential make AI startups a great investment in India," said Vasudeva Rao Munnaluri, RVP India and SAARC, Zendesk.

"Zendesk Ventures is focused on bringing the best technology, products, people and network together to empower AI-first startups in the country that are focused on solving meaningful business problems in the CX and EX space. We are excited for what the future holds for AI startups in India—and the place Zendesk can play in their development,” he added.

Founded in 2007 by Mikkel Svane, Morten Primdahl, and Alexander Aghassipour, Zendesk provides a cloud-based customer support platform, which is designed to help businesses manage customer relationships more effectively. It has an office in Bengaluru.

The company offers tools for customer support, ticketing, self-service options, and customer engagement. It aims to help businesses bring together the best of AI agents, workflow automation, and human agents for their customers and employees.