Voice AI startup Navana.ai has successfully secured Rs 40 crore ($4.2 million) in a Series A funding round led by entrepreneur and investor Ronnie Screwvala. This round attracted investments from various stakeholders including Antler India, Sharad Sanghi, Sandeep Singhal, Paula Mariwala, and others. The newly acquired funds will be directed towards expanding Voice AI implementations within BFSI enterprises, enhancing speech models tailored for Indian languages and dialects, and advancing the company’s AI Contact Centre along with its automated evaluation platform.
Founded by brothers Raoul and Jai Nanavati, Navana.ai focuses on delivering Voice AI solutions tailored for regulated companies, prioritising data privacy and adherence to compliance regulations through on-premise setups. The startup takes pride in processing over 100 million voice AI minutes for various BFSI firms, including well-known names like Bajaj Finserv, Protean, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, Jana Small Finance Bank, and Grihum Housing Finance.
Proprietary Speech Models
Navana.ai has created unique speech models that encompass 12 Indian languages and 45 dialects. These models are optimised to overcome challenges like background noise, overlapping speech, code-switching, and regional accents. Additionally, the company has partnered with prestigious institutions such as IISc Bengaluru, IIT Madras, Microsoft Research, and the Gates Foundation.
Achievements in Voice AI
The startup has reported that its Bodhi speech model achieved the highest accuracy during a benchmarking study across Indian voice AI platforms, using authentic speech samples. Ronnie Screwvala observed that Navana.ai is tackling the linguistic diversity found in India, noting that Voice AI could play a pivotal role in the nation’s digital landscape. He emphasised the importance of data localisation and regulatory adherence as crucial factors for enterprises considering this technology.
Future of Voice AI in BFSI
Navana.ai is paving the way for Voice AI infrastructure in regulated sectors, with its Bodhi speech models enabling BFSI companies to effectively serve their clients in native languages on a larger scale.