Clinc AI: Year in Review

2017 ushered in a new era, an era in which widespread adoption of Artificial Intelligence became not only a reality, but in many cases, a necessity. In the public sector, AI made the shift from distant sci-fi notion to common household term, with consumers across all industries asking “how can AI improve my experience here?”

Clinc began in 2015 with a mission to redefine experiences through Conversational AI, and since that time we’ve seen incredible demand and excitement amass for that mission. This year, in our partnerships, in the acclaim of our technology and research, and in our overall growth; Clinc has led a transformative shift in the market for conversational interfaces. Now, as 2018 begins, we celebrate our major milestones not only as a company, but as thought leaders, innovators and game changers.

Partnerships

2017 was labeled by many industry leaders as “The Year of Fintech”; a time in which burgeoning tech companies and long-withstanding financial institutions formed alliances and partnerships to benefit one another, and improve the overall banking experience for the consumer.

In a Forbes article written in early 2017, René Lacerte observed that tech companies and banks were “no longer adversaries, they’re now reliant on each other’s respective advantages to build better customer experiences”

This insight couldn’t have proved more true for Clinc, which piloted technology and forged master level partnerships with 15 major, global institutions in 2017. The following are two partnerships we’d like to highlight.

USAA

In August, Clinc announced a pilot with USAA, creating a personal financial assistant on Amazon Alexa for the country’s 22nd largest financial institution. The pilot allowed USAA members to access Clinc’s Finie (the financial genie) with only their voice, mimicking the experience of talking to a human in the room, without leaving their home.

Bradley Leimer, Managing Director and Head of Fintech Strategy at Explorer Advisory & Capital said of the partnership,

“The key to what USAA has built (with Clinc) is that it is experimenting with conversations around its members’ money, not just a vocal version of online or mobile banking. It is clear its strategies revolve around the needs of members, not an afterthought as it often feels like at other financial entities”

After overwhelming success in the pilot, USAA signed a multi-year production-level agreement with Clinc to give all of USAA’s members access to the Finie Alexa Skill.

Darrius Jones, AVP of Enterprise Innovation expressed his excitement for the partnership at Money 20/20,

“The journey with Clinc has been absolutely amazing, it’s been about learning how humans and machines can interact and deliver more than what was expected”

Isbank

In November, Clinc announced its partnership with İşbank, the largest private bank in Turkey, delivering conversational AI in the Turkish language, to more than 5.5 million mobile users.

Clinc’s partnership with İşbank was an enormous milestone. The announcement not only marked our 6th international deployment, but also served as the unveiling of our multi-language capabilities, in which our technology supports over 80 languages.

Awards

In addition to 3 successful partnerships, in 2017 the banking community consistently recognized Clinc’s leadership and technology as best-in-class. Jim Marous of The Financial Brand, named Clinc,

“one of the most exciting applications of AI in retail banking”

In 2017, Clinc was delighted to receive leadership, faculty and technology awards, and looks forward to continued success in the coming year.

#2 Most Innovative CEO in Banking

In September, Bank Innovation released their picks for the top ten most innovative CEOs in banking, and Jason Mars, co-founder and CEO of Clinc, clocked in at #2.

Bank Innovation cited Clinc AI’s ability to understand and communicate like “a human in the room” as a financial industry stand-out.

Bank AI Best in Show

In October at The American Banker Conference, Bank AI, Clinc was thrilled to win Best of Show. Clinc was up against 11 other companies for the title, 3 of which also demoed a conversational interface.

This was the second best in show win for Clinc, after receiving best-in-show at Finovate last year in New York City.

Growth

In February, Clinc raised Series A funding for $6.3 million in a round led by Drive Capital and joined by Hyde Park Venture Partners, Cahoots Holdings and Stuart Porter. Since then, the company has grown 15 times over, and is projected to double that growth in 2018.

In order to achieve this goal, Clinc added a new member to their executive team. In November, Clinc appointed Helen Yu as Chief Growth Officer to lead the company’s sales, marketing and customer success initiatives.

Helen Yu brings 20+ years of experience both advising startups to profitability and leading enterprise companies to success. Prior to joining Clinc, Helen held executive roles at Oracle, Adobe and Marketo. Under Helen’s leadership, Clinc has forged 15 partnerships with the world’s largest financial institutions and hired an entire enterprise field team composed of seasoned sales executives.

Looking Forward

2017 was an unforgettable year for Clinc. We cannot wait to continue pushing the boundaries of our technology in the years to come, and look forward to leading the transformation of the market for conversational AI in 2018.

In 2018 we plan to forge more partnerships in Financial Services as well expand our AI technology to other verticals, redefining the experience of customers across all industries.

As a final toast to the 2017, we put together a video of the year’s top successes. Watch below to learn more.