https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/30/conversica-which-uses-ai-to-replicate-sales-agents-raises-31m-now-valued-around-300m/

Chatbots have largely been a disappointing development up to now in the world of artificial intelligence applications, with too many mistakes made when the AI fails to address a user’s actual intent. But in the world of enterprise apps, there remain some interesting, adjacent opportunities: for example, where AI may not be used to underpin a whole conversation, but could at least help get it started.

This week, one of the bigger companies working in this area, Conversica, is announcing a growth round of $31 million — to help it continue its own conversation with customers, so to speak. It will be using the funding to expand to new markets and add more features to its platform.