Gupshup, the US-based conversational messaging services company, has strengthened its Middle East presence with the acquisition of Singapore-based Knowlarity Communications, a global leader in cloud communications.
With voice technology reforming the customer experience in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), this acquisition by Gupshup will ensure that with Artificial Intelligence (AI) voice technology, customers can effortlessly connect with businesses and get support or post-sales assistance.
This technology will reduce response times of businesses to customers and eventually help businesses retain customers. With the addition of Knowlarity’s products, Gupshup will now be able to support businesses in building seamless conversational experiences across both messaging and voice channels.
Beerud Sheth Co-founder & CEO Gupshup
“As business-to-consumer (B2C) engagement becomes conversational, Gupshup is busy enabling more ways for businesses to deliver rich experiences. With the addition of Knowlarity’s products, our customers in the Middle East and across the world will now be able to build seamless conversational experiences across both messaging and voice channels. A large number of large businesses and SMEs across sectors in the Middle East are starting to integrate AI technologies into their business and we see a huge potential for our business in the Middle East market.”
According to reports, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, in particular, have shown strong commitment towards the development and implementation of AI technologies. Businesses in these parts of the region have been investing heavily in new technology, supported by governments as early consumers of the technology. The latest PwC report on the AI market in the Middle East states that the region is expected to reap 2 percent, equivalent to $320 billion of the total global benefits of AI in 2030.
“We at Knowlarity are excited to be a part of Gupshup. This will lead to richer experiences for our existing and future customers along with product enrichment and significant geographic expansion opportunities. Our customer-centric, innovation-focused cultures are perfectly aligned and we see significant synergies and new products emerging from the combination of two great teams,” said Mr. Yatish Mehrotra, CEO, Knowlarity.
In 2021, Gupshup became a Unicorn with a valuation of $1.4 billion and raised $340 million from Tiger Global, Fidelity Management and Research Co. LLC and other marquee global investors. This is Gupshup’s second acquisition in the last four months, following the acquisition of US-based Dotgo, the world’s leading Rich Communications Services (RCS) platform.
