Mycroft AI inks $1.75M in oversubscribed round, battling Amazon, Google
January 12, 2018 | Bobby Burch
In a quiet room amid the chaos of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Mycroft AI CEO Josh Montgomery gleefully told Startland News Friday that his tech firm raised a significant seed round.
Mycroft recently raised a $1.75 million round that will help the Kansas City-based artificial intelligence startup accelerate hiring plans and corporate partnerships. The seed round exceeded the firm’s goal by more than $1 million, Montgomery said.
“It’s fantastic — it shows we’re in an exciting space and positions the company for huge success,” Montgomery said. “It’s exciting to be growing a company in Kansas City.”
Mycroft created an open-source voice assistant similar to Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana or Amazon’s Alexa. The firm’s Mark I device — which raised $335,000 in a Kickstarter campaign — uses natural language processing technology to enable its everyday use in a consumer’s home.
A 2016 Sprint Accelerator grad, Mycroft AI will be deploying a smart speaker — the Mark II — via a Kickstarter campaign Jan. 25.
Among those joining in the seed round were the Missouri Technology Corporation, Kansas City-based Northland Angels, Deep Space Ventures, TechNexus and Social Starts, Montgomery said. The local support is meaningful to Mycroft, Montgomery said.
“It shows Kansas City has an up-and-coming startup scene,” Montgomery said. “There’s funding available for good ideas with solid execution.”
With an open-source, open-hardware approach, Mycroft allows users across the globe to develop software and hardware add-ons. Already working with Jaguar Land Rover, Mycroft aims to be a neutral integration for other corporations that view Google or Amazon as competition.
“Lots of companies want to deploy voice assistants but aren’t excited about sending their data to big tech,” Montgomery said. “This positions us for success with corporate engagements.”
Mycroft AI hopes to hire up to 40 staffers in 2018 to build out its software and business development teams, Montgomery said.
Mycroft AI was named a Startland Top Startup to Watch in 2017. To watch Montgomery in a full video interview with Techcrunch, check out the video below.
Featured Business
2018 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Idle Smart founder Jeff Lynch shares three lessons from an accelerator
I’ve been aware of accelerators for some time, but honestly never really thought of them for Idle Smart. We were so heads down trying to grow our own company that I didn’t really have time to learn about the advantages of a quality accelerator. Earlier this summer, however, we were connected to Village Capital through…
Victor Hwang, city leaders challenge the area’s entrepreneurial ecosystem
In partnership with Think Big Partners, the Innovation Exchange offers Kansas Citians context and behind-the-scenes details on newsmakers in the area entrepreneurial ecosystem. This month, area leaders — including the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s vice president of entrepreneurship Victor Hwang — discussed what’s on the horizon for Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. If you missed the…
Seven local tech startups bring their innovations to KCMO
After 12 weeks of civic innovation, Kansas City’s Innovation Partnership Program culminated Tuesday with a demo day showcasing its seven participating startups. Launched in 2015, IPP pairs area startups with a department in the City of Kansas City, Mo. to not only identify new efficiencies but also offer the firm a chance to earn business…
Built on speed, grown through community: The Kansas City Startup Village marks 4 years
Editor’s note: St. Louis-based magazine EQ invited Startland News to write a feature story about one of the Kansas City’s innovation districts, Kansas City Startup Village, on the heels of its fourth anniversary. This story was originally published in EQ. As many entrepreneurs can attest, inspiration strikes anytime — including a late Sunday night. “This is going…