Amazon pledges $100 million for Alexa to expand in APAC

By

Cassidy Mantor

Published
Dec 1, 2017

Amazon made a $100 million pledge to its Alexa Fund, the investment pot that awards venture capital to global companies wanting to incorporate Alexa voice activated technology in to their operations.

Australia and New Zealand are the latest target markets for Amazon to expand Alexa. The $100 million pledge is intended to bring Alexa voice technology to the Asia Pacific region in early 2018.

Amazon's underlying goal is for Alexa to become integrated in hotels, stores and workplaces globally. Paul Bernard, Alexa Fund director said, "Companies that use voice to improve daily life across a wide range of domains — smart home, taking Alexa on the go, peace of mind, productivity and connected play — are some examples" of applications for Alexa.

The Alexa Fund began in the US in 2015. Amazon expanded Alexa to Germany and the UK with the introduction of the Echo device in late 2016. India got the Echo in October, and Japan received Echo this month.

Since founding the Alexa Fund, Amazon has invested in 30 global companies. Examples include making a $120 million investment in Canadian wearables company Thalmic Labs and an undisclosed contribution to French smart speaker maker Invoxia.

Bernard said, "With the Alexa Fund, we are focusing on empowering companies of all sizes, from startups to established companies, that have ideas for how voice technology can improve everyday life.”

The Alexa Fund has also backed a fellowship and an accelerator. The Alexa Accelerator was a 13 week program held in Seattle that was promoted globally. An example of a product coming out of the Alexa Accelerator is a series of voice activated board games that will launch next year from London-based gaming startup Sensible Objects.

The Alexa Fund was started in 2015 with an initial investment of $100 million by Amazon.

With Reuters