TechCrunch über das Investment von unter anderem Amazon in das indische Startup Shuttl:
Shuttl, a service that lets Indian city dwellers find seats on multiple bus routes through one app, announced today that it has raised a $11 million Series B led by Amazon India, Amazon Alexa Fund and Dentsu Ventures. Returning investors Sequoia Capital, Times Internet and Lightspeed Ventures also participated.
The Gurgaon-based startup’s last round of funding was a $20 million Series A announced in December 2015, just eight months after it launched.
Amazon Alexa Fund? Damit will Amazon doch Geräte mit Alexa-Funktionalität unterstützen und dadurch das Alexa-Ökosystem stärken. Was hat das mit Shuttl zu tun?
TechCrunch:
The Amazon Alexa Fund was created in 2016 to fund new voice technology. One of Shuttl’s most interesting features is “Chirp,” which verifies passengers by sending a sound from their mobile phones to the driver’s version of its app. The idea is that “chirping” is quicker than using tickets or passes and can therefore decrease delays on bus routes. The feature is powered by startup Chirp.io, which recently released a free version of its SDK.
Die potenziellen Einsatzzwecke von Alexa als Audio-Plattform sind vielleicht sehr viel vielfältiger als bisher angenommen..
