Unilever Ventures leads seed funding for Limitless, a new crowd service platform that provides on-demand customer care powered by artificial intelligence.
WHO: Limitless Crowd Service was founded in 2016 by Megan Neale and Roger Beadle. They had a mission to put an end to poor customer service and give people who provide great service better rewards and freedom. Limitless provides a more effective alternative to call centers or standalone automation. The technology combines the best of people with technology to give customers a better, more authentic experience. For businesses, it gives them a cost-effective way to scale their resources to provide faster responses to customers.
Unilever Ventures is the venture capital and private equity arm of consumer packaged goods conglomerate Unilever PLC. They invest in young, promising companies, accelerating growth by providing access to Unilever’s global ecosystem, assets, and expertise. Unilever Ventures has poured an estimated €450 million into some 40 start-ups since its establishment in 2002. It concentrates on digital and beauty companies in the US, Europe, and Asia with investments ranging from 5 percent to controlling shares.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS: “The fundamental nature of work is changing as the world is moving from fixed to fluid, on-demand working models,” said Roger Beadle, co-founder and CEO of Limitless. “Customers today value authenticity and expect fast, helpful and empathetic service at the speed of social. In our view, crowdsourcing will become an integral part of an ecosystem of technologies and methods that will fundamentally change the future of customer service.”
“To date, companies have had to rely on inflexible and costly contact centres, with fixed infrastructure and resources to deliver customer support,” said Megan Neale, co-founder and COO of Limitless. “Limitless allows companies to tap into a more diverse, talented and flexible global workforce and achieve up to 50% cost savings.”
Stan Sthanunathan, Executive Vice President – Consumer & Market Insights at Unilever says, “We know consumers want more insightful and faster responses from communications with our brands, Limitless offers us a way to provide this whilst helping other consumers at the same time. We are excited to work with Limitless to help us scale customer services much more cost effectively across all digital channels on a 24/7 basis and deepen our understanding of consumer needs. We also get to reward our most loyal and passionate customers at the same time.”
“Unilever Ventures invested in Limitless because they combine leading edge technology in crowdsourcing and artificial intelligence, with an amazing team who know what customers really want,” said Jan Harley, Director at Unilever Ventures.
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