Zapier and IFTTT are, today, very large platforms for creating automation rules for texts or getting two apps to “talk” to each other via APIs. However, these are ‘hammers to crack nuts’ when it comes to processing simple tasks needed inside businesses. Furthermore, if you include images or video, or if the text referred to is unstructured, tools that require that structure won’t work so well, if at all.
This was the thinking behind the Berlin-based Levity startup. It came up with a way for businesses to create AI-powered, ‘no-Code’ rules for automating tasks in a way that non-technical people can use.
It’s now raised $8.3 million in seed funding, co-led by Balderton Capital (out of London) and Chalfen Ventures, as well as a number of Angels.
Founded by Gero Keil and Thilo Hüllmann, Levity allows businesses to use simple templates to automate workflows, with, says the firm, an underlining AI which takes care of the heavy lifting. This uses NLP and computer vision in a single horizontal platform to parse unstructured data types – such as images, texts, and documents. Levity’s customers range from fashion and real estate to shipping, marketing, social media, scientific research, and others.
Typical use cases include automatically tagging and routing incoming emails or email attachments; triaging customer support tickets; sorting incoming documents into respective folders; or tagging visual inventory data, such as product photos.
A little like Zapier, the platform integrates with Gmail, Outlook, Google Drive, Dropbox, Airtable, and others. The startup says the system is also SOC2 Type I certified and GDPR compliant.
In a statement, Gero Keil, co-founder and CEO of Levity said: “Businesses and their customers deserve the same opportunities to reap the benefits of AI and automation as their bigger rivals.”
The platform launched this past August subscription prices start at $200 per month.
James Wise, partner at Balderton Capital added: “There is an increasing divide between companies with the means to capitalize on AI and automation, and those smaller businesses who lack the resources to do so. Levity is on a mission to close this divide.”
The Berlin startup that wants to give Zapier a run for its money by Mike Butcher originally published on TechCrunch
