The post was originally published in Russian on Alexander’s Telegram channel. Alexander kindly agreed to republish what we think is of great value to our readers
Voice assistants are no longer new; there are dozens of them on the market. So if McDonald’s or any new startup launches their version of Siri tomorrow, no one will be surprised. The technologies are available; you’re free to experiment. Yet, assistants are doing worse with monetization. The giants use them to promote their ecosystems, while others do everything just for PR.
The team of the Indian #startupoftheday Miko solved the money problem. They sharpened the voice assistant for communication with children, added fairy tales and developmental games, removed unnecessary staff, and put their “Alice” inside a toy, not a speaker. Viola, the commercial product is ready.
First, parents buy a robot for $239, then pay $100 a year to subscribe to content. Of course, you can’t sell such a toy in India, but for the American market, the prices are low. Moreover, the buyer feels that it’s not a waste but an investment in the future. Miko has a lot of valuable skills which are very useful for children.
In a recent round, the startup raised $30 mln in investments estimated to be around $60 mln.
https://miko.ai/
#India #roundb #Education #Technology #Entertainment
Startup: Miko
Translation : Valeria Stupnikova
Alexander made his career in Russian internet companies including Mail.Ru, Rambler, RBC. From 2016 to 2018 he was Chief Strategy and Analytics officer in Mail.Ru Group. In this position, he worked on M&A, investments, and new project launches. In 2018 he became Deputy CEO in Citymobil, a Russian Uber-like company that was invested by Mail.Ru Group and Sberbank (the biggest Russian bank), then he left the company to launch his own projects. Now Alexander is a co-founder of United Investors – the platform for co-investments in Russian early-stage startups. His blog #startupoftheday (#стартапдня) is one of the most popular blogs about startups in Russia.
