I own 5 units in VoiceGenie keep your eyes on it when it goes public.
>TORONTO, Aug 31, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- VoiceGenie Technologies Inc., which builds and deploys infrastructure that enables voice access to Web content from any telephone, reported today that it has completed a $10-million round of "angel" financing.
"That's the largest angel round that I'm aware of in Canadian venture capital history," said Mary Macdonald, president of Toronto-based Macdonald & Associates Ltd., a leading voice on the Canadian venture capital industry.
"Our investors have demonstrated tremendous confidence in our technology to provide voice access to Web-based content, and in our business model," said Stuart Berkowitz, founder, president and CEO of VoiceGenie. "Our first customers, such as AT&T, and strategic partners such as Lucent, with whom we have a $50-million (U.S.) multi-year development agreement, and Nuance, are validating that confidence and so is the marketplace."
VoiceGenie's unique telco-grade technology gives users access to Web information, enables them to manage personal communications (such as e-mail, voice mail, and voice-activated dialing from their personal address book), and to make transactions and requests for information quickly and easily, using only their voice through any telephone. Unlike WAP-based technology, VoiceGenie's infrastructure enables hands-free, eyes-free access to the Web anywhere, anytime from any phone.
Industry analysts have projected that the market for voice-based mobile-commerce market could reach or exceed $450-billion (U.S.) by 2003 -- three times the projected amount for online retail in the same year.
A recent survey of consumers found that 80 per cent of respondents feel that the public is ready for a voice interface to the Web, citing benefits such as convenience, ease of use and speed. The public markets have also recently acknowledged their enthusiasm for voice-activated phone services that link to the Web through the stock performance of Nuance (Nasdaq: NUAN chart, msgs) and SpeechWorks (Nasdaq: SPWX chart, msgs).
"VoiceGenie is providing the next-generation of hardware and software to build out the Voice Web," said Mr. Berkowitz. "We're doing this while promoting the most open, non-proprietary product as a member of the VoiceXML Forum, because we know that this will make it easier and faster for everyone to roll out Voice Web applications.
About VoiceGenie
VoiceGenie Technologies Inc. builds and deploys infrastructure that allows users to pick up any phone and access the Internet to retrieve content and to perform transactions on the web by simply using their voice. The Voice Genie System, consisting of VoiceGenie Applications and the VG Content Server and Telephony Server, is based on the VoiceXML standard. The technology is a direct result of VoiceGenie's long-standing relationship with AT&T Labs Research and the evolution of several advanced technologies and new trends including computer telephony, Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), Text to Speech and the wireless internet. VoiceGenie is a voting member of the VoiceXML Forum www.voicexmlforum.org and a promoter of a non-proprietary standard for voice access to Web content. Its mission is to provide the infrastructure and applications, using the VoiceXML standard, to help firms build voice services that integrates easily with existing systems, is scalable, flexible and provides a robust platform for future growth.
For more information on VoiceGenie Technologies, visit www.voicegenie.com. |
