Aiello Secures New Funding to Fuel Expansion Across Japan and Southeast Asia

TAIPEI, Oct. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Aiello, a leading startup specializing in Natural Language Processing (NLP), announced today the successful completion of a US$5 million funding round. The round was led by prominent Japanese venture capital firms Cool Japan Fund and CDIB Cross Border Innovation Fund II LP, along with E.Sun Venture Capital Co., Ltd., and B Current Mstar Impact Investment. Additional support came from existing institutional backers, JAFCO Asia and Wistron Corporation, further reinforcing confidence in Aiello's strategic direction.

As part of this round, Aiello welcomed Kenichi Sawaya from CDIB Cross Border Innovation Fund II LP, a Co-GP fund between CDIB and Cool Japan Fund, to join the board of directors. Sawaya brings a wealth of global experience and strategic insight, which will be instrumental in accelerating Aiello's expansion into Japan. "We are excited to participate in Aiello's latest funding round. Their AI expertise and innovative, all-in-one hospitality management system will address operational inefficiencies and fragmentation in the hospitality sector, driving sustainable growth amid ongoing labor shortages. We look forward to advancing the digital transformation and elevating hotel services in Japan through this partnership," Sawaya said.  

Aiello CEO and co-founder Vic Shen commented, "This funding round is primarily about bringing on board shareholders who offer invaluable experience for our growth. The capital raised will support our international expansion, particularly in Japan and Southeast Asia. Beyond expanding our reach, we aim to collaborate with local software and service providers to adapt and enhance the Aiello Hospitality Platform, creating a fully localized, all-in-one SaaS solution that can replace outdated systems."

In 2023, Aiello launched Aiello-One, an all-in-one SaaS management platform designed specifically for the hospitality industry. The platform offers three core modules: Interface, Operations, and Insight. These modules simplify the adoption of digital solutions, while the platform's flexible plugin system enables continuous upgrades. This approach allows hotels to reduce maintenance costs and easily tailor the system to meet their unique operational needs.

Aiello's international partnerships have surged, with 65% of its new contracts in 2023 coming from global hotel chains such as Seibu Prince Hotels & Resorts, Millennium Hotels and Resorts, and Taiwan's Cosmos Hotels & Resorts and Caesar Park Hotels & Resorts. Over the past three years, Aiello has been implemented in more than 180 hotels, covering over 20,000 rooms. The platform has processed over 4.71 million guest requests and cross-departmental tasks, while its voice and touch functionalities have facilitated over 55.1 million guest interactions. To date, Aiello has supported more than 2.8 million room nights, providing personalized service and real-time responses to meet the diverse needs of modern travelers.

Looking ahead to 2025-2027, Aiello is well-positioned to address critical industry challenges, including labor shortages, the growing number of new hotels, and the rising demand for brand renovations. The shift from traditional on-premise servers to AI-powered in-room devices is expected to elevate the industry to new heights of technological innovation.

Starting in Q3 2024, Aiello has partnered with service and content providers to offer diversified travel itineraries and shopping services directly in guest rooms, aiming to further enhance guest experiences and drive hotel revenue growth.

About Aiello

Aiello is a leading provider of Voice AI in the hospitality industry. Its flagship product, Aiello Voice Assistant, is a multi-award-winning talk & touch voice AI technology solution aimed at streamlining hotel operations, enhancing the guest experience, and generating insights about customer behavior. The state-of-the-art Aiello Voice Assistant is designed to elevate the guest experience with its unique AI-powered features and capabilities. Since 2019, Aiello Voice Assistant has been deployed in over 180 hotels, encompassing 20,000 rooms, and has answered over 14 million inquiries from 2.5 million end users in Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and English.

Learn more at Aiello's official website: https://aiello.ai/

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SOURCE Aiello