NEWS
2023/09/20
alt Inc. cumulative funding exceeds 8 billion yen, accelerating the reinforcement of AI technology base including LLM
〜alt establishes the position of the Asian version of OpenAI as a pioneer in personal artificial intelligence research and achieving further technological superiority〜
alt Inc.(https://alt.ai/en/), a Japan based developer of AI Clone and Personal Artificial Intelligence (P.A.I.®️) (Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan; CEO: Kazutaka Yonekura) is pleased to announce that its total funding has exceeded 8 billion yen.
This funding was underwritten by Kintetsu Venture Partners, Inc., Hulic Startup Co., Ltd., UB Ventures, Inc., KEYENCE CORPORATION, AG Capital Co.,Ltd., ENEOS Innovation Partners Godo Kaisha, and SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. Through the aforementioned third-party allotment and overdraft facilities from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Mizuho Bank, Ltd., we raised a total of approximately 1.9 billion yen.
[Background and purpose of procurement]
Beginning in late 2022, the field of generative AI has suddenly attracted attention all over the world. Since its establishment, alt has been engaged in research, development, ownership, and service operation of generative AI, and we fully realize that detailed social implementation and business implementation are very important. The purpose of this fundraising was to collaborate with companies that can accelerate the implementation of the relevant technology, invest in AI infrastructure including LLM development, develop products, secure outstanding human resources, and strengthen sales and marketing.
Upon our establishment in 2014, we registered the trademark "Personal Artificial Intelligence (P.A.I.)" and have strengthened our ties with top-tier academia in all technology fields and conducted research and development. We are proud to be a pioneer in this field. Our company, which not only develops and owns the underlying technology, a large language model (LLM), but also develops products based on it (AI GIJIROKU, altBRAIN, AI Call Center, CLONEdev, and more), are establishing the position of the "OpenAI of Asia" and will continue to strive to develop P.A.I. by solidifying this positioning and further strengthening our superiority in the know-how of personalization and customization, solving the most important issues of our clients.
【Investor Comments】
Hirotoshi Ashitaka | Director of Kintetsu Venture Partners, Inc
The mission of "Freedom from unproductive labor" advocated by alt is an essential approach to Japan's serious social problems of the declining birthrate, aging population, and shrinking working population, and Mr. Yonekura, CEO of alt, has pursued this mission unwaveringly. I felt a connection and a sense of security with the foresight and strong beliefs of the company, as well as the professionalism and deep commitment of the staff.
As the Kintetsu Group, which is active in a wide range of business fields, we would like to contribute to the social implementation of this grand project, P.A.I.® (Personal Artificial Intelligence) and AI clones, while exploring the possibility of collaboration from various angles.
Takashi Uesugi | Representative Director of Hulic Startup Co., Ltd.
We recognize that the vision of "Freedom from unproductive labor" is the biggest challenge for Japan's economy, businesses, and individuals, and one that must be realized as soon as possible, and we look forward to creating a more prosperous society. For this reason, we decided to invest in alt. We look forward to further business expansion in the voice-to-text market by utilizing the large-scale language processing technology that alt has cultivated.
The Hulic Group will consider improving productivity in the real estate field through collaboration with alt.
Chiamin Lai | Managing Partner of UB Ventures, Inc.
We have invested in this company in the hope that the digital clones and P.A.I. developed by alt will fundamentally change the interaction between humans and machines and revolutionize future communication and business models. Since its founding, alt has realized the social implementation of its flagship product AI GIJIROKU based on its proprietary LLM. In Japanese society, as our population decreases, there is an urgent need to improve operational efficiency through DX. We are confident that alt's AI technology will be implemented in a variety of industries, from medical care to entertainment, and will bring innovative productivity improvements to each industry. Through support for alt, we hope to contribute to the realization of a society where people are freed from unproductive labor and their daily lives are enriched.
Tsutomu Nishide | Investment Manager of AG Capital Co.,Ltd.
We invested in alt because we agreed with its grand vision of "Freedom from unproductive labor." Nowadays, generative AI is attracting public attention, and the company's unique P.A.I. (Personal Artificial Intelligence) technology and advanced natural language processing technology are unrivaled in Japan in terms of their ability to respond to Japanese. We are confident that our technological capabilities will greatly expand not only in the domestic market but also in overseas markets.
AG Capital will not only support our group's growth through financial services, but also actively utilize its services to improve our group's productivity.
Toru Naganuma | President of ENEOS Innovation Partners Godo Kaisha
We decided to invest in alt because we felt a strong alignment with its vision of "freeing people from unproductive labor through P.A.I. and AI cloning," and were attracted to the company's high-technological and service development capabilities. As improvements in work productivity are required in all workplaces, we feel that the solutions created by alt's large language models and other technologies have great social significance. Through this capital alliance, we hope to accelerate consideration of collaboration in our business areas and contribute to the further growth of alt.
Naka Orita | Managing Director of Merchant Banking of SMBC Nikko Securities Inc.
Our company continued to invest in alt in 2022. alt is a team that continues to grow its business with a strong belief that through its AI technology, it will fundamentally change the concept of work. Based on their vision of "Freedom from unproductive labor," we hope that various solutions such as AI GIJIROKU will be quickly implemented in society, and that we will see a dramatic improvement in labor productivity for humanity.
[Underwriter of third-party allotment capital increase]
Kintetsu Venture Partners, Inc
Hulic Startup Co., Ltd.
UB Ventures, Inc.
KEYENCE CORPORATION
AG Capital Co.,Ltd.
ENEOS Innovation Partners Godo Kaisha
SMBC Nikko Securities Inc.
【Currently Available Positions】
・Chief experience officer (CXO)
・Business: Sales, Marketers, Customer Success
・Development: Project Manager, Product Engineer, AI Engineer
・Corporate: Corporate Development
【Service Product Examples】
・AI GIJIROKU ーFast-growing transcription service
・AI Call Center ーAutomate your company's entire call center operations
・Nulltitude ーAI survey system construction for market research and poll
・LLM - GPT Solutions ーProvide and propose DX solutions utilizing LLM
・CLONEdev ーGenerate digital clones by linking the user's lifelog
・altBRAIN ーNo-code Generative AI platform
■About alt Inc.
Established in November 2014, alt Inc. is a venture firm with the mission of freeing humankind from non-creative/unproductive labor through the creation of P.A.I. ® (Personal Artificial Intelligence) and AI clones. We also develop and provide SaaS products such as AI GIJIROKU, which utilizes speech recognition technology born from the development of AI dialogue engines. As of September 2023, our cumulative funding has reached over 8 billion yen.
<Media Inquiries to:>
Misako Nishizawa (Media Relations)
e-mail：press@alt.ai