Aveni Seals Seven-Figure Investment to Launch Aveni Detect

Scottish fintech company Aveni has secured an investment of £1.1 million to launch a ground-breaking Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform which is leading the way in a new era for speech analytics in business.

Aveni Detect uses the latest advances in AI and natural language processing (NLP) to automate processes direct from the customer voice. This allows companies to achieve greater efficiencies in quality assurance whilst significantly improving client experience, staff training, and the ability to identify vulnerable customers.

The investment, led by the TRICAPITAL Angel syndicate, will accelerate Aveni’s growth and see it move beyond financial services into other regulated industries, whilst building a team to support its UK expansion.

 

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Joseph Twigg, CEO of Aveni said:

“Consumer behaviour and business needs have changed significantly over the past 18 months as the service industry digitised in response to the pandemic. This created a new base of consumers comfortable with video conferencing led, digital-first services.  But it also created a major challenge for firms to monitor and assess these calls, especially as an increasing number of them were from vulnerable customers who needed additional attention.”

He added:

“In the new world, AI can be adopted throughout the customer journey, driving new insight, significant efficiency gains and better protecting the vulnerable. It’s a win-win situation. By using AI to help automate processes like quality assurance and risk monitoring, material cost reductions can be achieved. At the same time, companies gain targeted insights on customer experience and training opportunities for customer-facing staff.”

 

Aveni’s team of world leading NLP scientists and engineers have worked with top businesses in the UK to develop Aveni Detect. Whether a business meets customers face-to-face, via video conference or phone, Aveni Detect converts the conversation to text before processing it through its unique NLP pipeline to deliver novel insight and automation. This creates significant opportunities for businesses to greatly reduce the cost to serve, build a better trained workforce and identify opportunities for new products and services.

Crucially for many companies, the platform will help reduce the cost of compliance, for example by helping businesses meet the FCA’s recent guidance on the Fair Treatment of Vulnerable Customers. To implement the changes required, it is expected to cost the Financial Services industry £700 million. Twigg adds, “Aveni Detect automates a significant part of these requirements, driving efficiency into a business, whilst meeting regulatory requirements and protecting the consumer. It is a great example of ‘AI for good’ as the technology is being used to make a positive impact and will help to better protect those that are vulnerable within our society.”

 

As well as TRICAPITAL, the round was supported by Scottish Enterprise’s Growth Investments, Old College Capital – the University of Edinburgh’s in-house venture investment fund and Wallace Equity.

Visit Aveni Detect to learn more.