Ratan Tata-backed AI start-up Niki.ai raises $2 million

Niki.ai was founded in April 2015 by four IIT Kharagpur alumni

Ratan Tata-backed Niki.ai, which runs an artificial intelligence-powered personal assistant, has raised $2 million in a Series-A round of funding from San Francisco-based fund SAP.iO and Unilazer Ventures.

The company also raised money from Haresh Chawla of private equity firm True North and Arihant Patni of Hive Technologies, it said in a statement on Wednesday. Software giant SAP launched SAP.iO with an initial investment of $35 million in March this year. The fund makes early-stage investments in software start-ups with an aim to expand the SAP ecosystem.

Niki.ai plans to use the money to strengthen its machine-learning capabilities, build voice and multilingual