alexa fund
Hyper raises $3.6M from Amazon and more for its iPhone-based, VTuber-friendly avatar platform
VTubers — online personalities who use motion-capture-powered manga- and anime-inspired avatars to interact with the world alongside games, over YouTube, and in other places — have become big business, with…
Alexa Fund’s Paul Bernard talks OpenAI, what’s catching his eye and remaining relevant as Amazon restructures
Amazon made headlines this month when the company began to work through its long-rumored 18,000 job cuts. Going, too, are a number of products and strategies as the company right-sizes…
Labrador set to deliver a robotic helping hand to homes in 2023
Back at CES 2020, Labrador Systems co-founder/CEO Mike Dooley told me, “I think there are fewer fake robots [at the show] this year.” Over the past several years, we’ve seen…
Amazon’s Alexa Fund invests in edtech startups Zoobean and Unruly Studios
Two edtech companies, Zoobean and Unruly Studios, are the latest to receive investment from Amazon’s Alexa Fund — Amazon’s corporate venture fund focused on fueling innovation in voice technologies, and…
Amazon’s Alexa Fund invests in three voice startups
Founded in 2015, Amazon’s Alexa Fund is devoted to helping kickstart early-stage voice startups. This week, it’s announced support for a trio of new companies. There’s Bamboo Learning, which was…
Amazon expands its Alexa Fund Fellowship to a total of 18 universities, up from 4 last year
Amazon announced this morning a further investment in voice technology with an expansion of its Alexa Fund Fellowship to 14 new universities, up from only 4 in 2017, the Fellowship’s…
Amazon’s newest Alexa Fund recipients are less consumer-focused
Amazon is today announcing the new batch of startups joining its Alexa Accelerator program, powered by Techstars. Members of last year’s Amazon’s Alexa Accelerator program, which backs companies developing new…
Vesper’s new microphone technology attracts millions from the biggest names in sound technology
Vesper Technologies, a new microphone technology developer, has raised $23 million from some of the biggest names in audio technology to finance the commercialization of its piezoelectric microphones. As audio…
Pulse Labs has raised $2.5 million in seed funding to help voice apps better interact with humans
Between smart speakers, mobile devices and a growing army of connected home products, voice interfaces are poised to continue growing at a rapid clip. We’re still very much in the…
Nucleus raises $5.6M in Series A funding led by Amazon’s Alexa fund
Nucleus, the home intercom system which started shipping in August, has closed $5.6M in Series A Funding. The round was led by Amazon’s Alexa fund, which invests in promising startups…
Amazon Adds Music And Water Controls To Echo As Part Of Alexa Fund Roll-Out
Amazon has today announced that two new companies, Musaic and Rachio, are being added to the Amazon Echo platform with investments from the $100 million Alexa Fund. With the Amazon…
