Deepbrain boosts AI-powered virtual avatars with $44M raise

All the sessions from Transform 2021 are available on-demand now. Deepbrain AI (formerly Moneybrain), a conversational AI startup based in Seoul, South Korea, has raised $44 million in a series B round led by Korea Development Bank at a post-money valuation of $180 million. The capital will be used to expand the company's customer base and operations globally, CEO Eric Jang said in a statement, with a particular emphasis on the U.S. Deepbrain provides a range of AI-powered customer service products, but its focus is on "synthetic humans," or human-like avatars that respond to natural language questions. Because the pandemic makes online meetups a regular occurrence, the concept of "virtual people" is gaining steam. Startups including Soul Machines, Brud, Wave, Samsung-backed STAR Labs, the AI Foundation, and Deepbrain aim to will a sort of "metaverse" into existence by pursuing AI techniques that can mimic the experience of speaking with a human being (for example, a support agent).