AI to expand in Southeast Asia: Skelter Labs

Skelter Labs, the Korean AI startup has just gathered some investment from a Venture Capital Firm to expand in Southeast Asia.

Earlier this year, Skelter Lab already pulled in a $9 million investment from KakaoBrain, which is the AI unit of the messaging giant Kakao in Korea. Skelter Lab specializes in vision speech as well as conversation and context recognition. It targets the manufacturing market, customer operations, and consumer marketing.

The company has gathered the funds with an aim to rule the daily life and scheduling through machine learning technology. They aim at bringing virtual assistants that can be used in various areas such as smart speakers, smartphones, home appliances, automobiles, and wearable devices.

Skelter Labs’ latest investment is from the Venture Capital startup,  the 7 years old Golden Gate Ventures who has around 30 investments in Southeast Asia till date.

They have invested in about 7 countries over the internet, mobile startups, e-commerce, payments, marketplaces, mobile applications, and SaaS platforms. This portfolio of the Golden Gate Ventures invests sit well with Skelter Lab goals and aims.

This current investment is an extension of the previous round of investment pulled in by Skelter Labs. The previous round had been closed at a total of $100 million by Golden Ventures in Southeast Asia. The deal was finalized between the former engineering site director of Google Korea, who is the founder of Skelter Labs, and the former Silicon Valley figures Vinnie Lauria, Jeffery Paine, and Paul Braigel, who are the founding members of Golden Gate Ventures.

“When I compare the tech ecosystem of Southeast Asia (SEA) to other markets, it’s really hit an inflection point — annual investment is now measured in the billions. That puts SEA on a global stage with the US, China, and India. Yet there is a youthfulness that reminds me of Silicon Valley circa 2005, shortly before social media and the iPhone took off,” says Lauria, the founding member of Golden Gate Ventures.

The CEO Skelter Labs seems all happy, appreciating the role of VCs in Southeast Asia which he thinks are helpful for the startups in the region. Also, he is positive about such investments which can help them grow and achieve the goal of maximizing machine learning practices in day to day life.

Want to learn about Venture Capitals in Southeast Asia? Stay tuned!