Speech recognition start-up Uniphore to set up R&D facility in US

Plans expansion in Asia with its multiple language solutions, to tap expertise from Silicon Valley

Uniphore Software Sytems, a speech recognition solutions provider backed by Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan and various venture capital firms, is planning to set up its research & development (R&D) facility in the United States (US), in order to attract expertise from Silicon Valley.

The company is also planning to expand in Asian countries with its multiple language speech recognition solutions in the next two to three years, said Umesh Sachdev, chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder of Uniphore. The company is exploring an opportunity to expand in Asian countries such as China, Japan, Korea, among others.

"We are planning to set up our office in [the] US during this year. Over a period of time, it would also help us to gain expertise from Silicon Valley," he said. The company has its R&D activities in Chennai and Bengaluru at present.

He also informed that the company has registered a growth of 250 per cent in its business last year and expecting the same growth this year.

On the expansion plans, he commented that the company is looking at expanding its operations to some of the Asian countries in near future. It currently has its operations in India, Singapore and UAE. Sachdev added that the focus to be primarily on the Indian market.

The company management feels that its product in more than 80 languages would give them an advantage in expanding in these countries.

The company is firming up the plans and will soon arrive at the quantum of investment required for the expansion. It is adequately funded at present, he added. The company has investors such as Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder of Infosys, apart from IDG Ventures, YourNest Angel Fund and Stata Ventures.

Uniphore, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) based company, offers solutions allowing any software application to understand and respond to natural human speech, enabling human beings to use the most natural communication modes to engage and instruct machines. The solutions include Voice Biometrics, Virtual Assistant and Speech Analytics helping enterprises engage with their consumers.