These days, it seems like every company either wants to or is already offering an AI product or service. For startups building an AI product in this space, it’s a really good time, but they aren’t without their challenges — the tech is still early, and though many companies are interested in trying generative AI solutions, they have been slow to adopt it.
There are numerous reasons why, but what appears to be foremost is the fear of AI hallucinations. “You can’t use [AI] in production for large enterprises if it lies,” said Pavitar Singh, co-founder and CEO of UnifyApps.
Singh feels his startup has a good solution for that: UnifyApps essentially connects a company’s SaaS apps and data to each other, and lets companies build and deploy their own AI chatbots on top to interface with all the information. This approach, he says, serves to minimize AI hallucinations, because UnifyApps’ agents can essentially vet each other’s output based on the company’s data.
UnifyApps is new to an already crowded space — bigwigs like Workato and Zapier already offer similar “unification” services, as do a slew of other startups. But Singh believes his startup’s AI-focused approach gives it an edge because it bakes in the ability to build AI chatbots. “Enterprises can build any number of agents: They can help HR, sales, marketing, legal, or finance,” he said.
Companies may be hesitant to adopt generative AI, but UnifyApps has already attracted more than 20 customers, including one of the largest banks in the world and a big telecom provider, Singh said.
Good traction is a great look for a young startup, and investors seem to agree. The company just raised a $20 million Series A funding round from ICONIQ Growth, less than six months after UnifyApps closed a $11 million seed round.
Singh founded UnifyApps last year after spending over 11 years as a CTO of Sprinklr, a customer experience management platform for global brands, which went public in 2021.
While only a minority of ICONIQ Growth’s investments are in Series A startups, the firm was well acquainted with Singh. “Pavitar was the mad scientist genius that was building all the incredible products for Sprinklr,” said Matt Jacobson, a general partner at ICONIQ.
ICONIQ had invested in Sprinklr’s Series D in 2014, and Jacobson spent many years serving on the company’s board. He says he was so impressed with Singh and what he was doing at UnifyApps, that he couldn’t pass up investing in the startup.
“Stakes have gotten much higher with AI applications,” Jacobson said.
UnifyApps has 150 employees across offices in Gurgaon, Dubai and New York.
As for why the company has such a big team, Singh said UnifyApps wants to ensure its product is flawless so that large enterprises can “adopt it safely.”