{"id":341966,"date":"2017-05-26T02:45:31","date_gmt":"2017-05-25T18:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1495699"},"modified":"2017-05-26T02:45:31","modified_gmt":"2017-05-25T18:45:31","slug":"rulai-launches-low-code-chatbot-development-tool-and-raises-6-5-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/rulai-launches-low-code-chatbot-development-tool-and-raises-6-5-million\/","title":{"rendered":"Rulai launches \u201clow-code\u201d chatbot development tool and raises $6.5 million"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Customer experience chatbot developer Rulai has launched a new \u201clow code\u201d chatbot development tool and raised $6.5 million to roll it out.<\/p>\n

The development team at Rulai, with offices in Beijing and Campbell, Calif., is helmed by the renowned University of California, Santa Cruz, computer science professor Yi Zhang.<\/p>\n

Professor Zhang, the company\u2019s chief technologist, together with her team, are launching a product\u00a0that customer service managers can use to develop chat bots which will perform tasks based on customer conversations, and that can be\u00a0created without a single line of code.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an example of how software developers and artificial intelligence systems are writing themselves out of the application development process.<\/p>\n

Specifically, the Rulai tool was designed for customer service managers. Using Rulai\u2019s dropdown toolkit managers can write scripts and create action items to customize chatbots that will perform functions based on their communications with customers.<\/p>\n

In the demo I saw, Professor Zhang created a chatbot that could automatically\u00a0respond to a customer and cancel and rebook their flights through a series of drop down menus and an integration with a company\u2019s back end.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The chatbots rely on natural language processing technology developed by Rulai, and the customization toolkit the company has built will let managers with no coding experience create their own scripts. Based on user\u2019s responses, the bots will respond with actions that are also created by the managers.<\/p>\n

Rulai is throwing its bot toolkit out into an incredibly crowded market. Everyone from big names like Facebook<\/a> and Microsoft<\/a> to startups like Botcube<\/a>, Azumo<\/a>, Api.ai<\/a>, Chatfuel, blahblahbot, pandorabot, and RoBotOverlord (I made the last three up, but you get the idea) are working on these things.<\/p>\n

For Rulai, another point of differentiation it\u2019s pitching is the strength of its AI technology itself, according to Zhang.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s bot can escalate tasks to a human customer support system when needed; perform several rounds of communication with a customer and remember the context of the conversation; it\u2019s based on mixed initiatives and mixed tasks technology, which means both the bot and the human can lead a chat; and adaptively changes its approach based on real time feedback.<\/p>\n

Whether or not the company\u2019s chatbot development toolkit is the future, Rulai has lined up some serious backers to finance its growth.<\/p>\n

To roll out this new product, Rulai has raised $6.5 million in new financing from a slew of Sino-US investment firms led by GSR Ventures, a huge player in the Chinese venture capital industry, and an established presence in the U.S.<\/p>\n

With over $1.5 billion under management in U.S. and Yuan-denominated funds, GSR has backed some of China\u2019s biggest new startups. Companies in the fund\u2019s portfolio include\u00a0DiDi Chuxing<\/a>, Qunar<\/a>, ele.me<\/a>, Xiaohongshu<\/a>, Inke<\/a>, Shanghai DZH<\/a> and ofo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Additional investors in the round included the former venture arm of FIL, formerly known as Fidelity Growth Partners and now called Eight Roads Ventures China and Zhongwei Capital.<\/p>\n

Featured Image: Bryce Durbin<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\" Customer experience chatbot developer Rulai has launched a new “low code” chatbot development tool and raised $6.5 million to roll it out. The development team at Rulai, with offices in Beijing and Campbell, Calif., is helmed by the renowned University of California, Santa Cruz, computer science professor Yi Zhang. Professor Zhang, the company’s chief technologist, together… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

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