Microsoft Ventures invests in Comfy smart building app and CrowdFlower AI tech

Two investments announced by Microsoft Ventures this week provide additional insight into the types of startups that the company's newly announced venture fund will be backing. Microsoft Ventures participated along with Canvas Ventures and Trinity Ventures in a 10 million investment round in CrowdFlower, a San Francisco-based artificial intelligence startup whose platform combines training data, machine learning and human input. The company also participated in a 12 million funding round in Comfy, an Oakland, Calif.-based company that offers a smartphone app for building tenants to regulate air conditioning and other aspects of their work environment from their phones. The round was led by Emergence Capital, with other investors CBRE Group and existing investors Claremont Creek Ventures and Westly Group. Earlier this week, Microsoft Ventures was among the investors in a 23 million Series B financing round announced this morning by Helpshift, a San Francisco-based company that offers technology for in-app customer support on mobile devices and the web.