CognitionX attracts new tech investors as funding round hits $4.1m

Technology firm CognitionX has built on its multi-million pound summer funding round with fresh investment of $1.1m (c.£860k) from The CXO Fund, Unilever Ventures and other tech angels.

The new backing, which brings the round to $4.1m, comes as the Westminster-based company continues to grow the network of AI experts on its digital advice platform.

CognitionX is also signing clients for the platform’s new Enterprise Edition, which will allow organisations to capitalise on their internal AI knowledge by accessing internal and external expertise through a single platform.

Since the funding announced in June, the company has also updated the homepage on its website to feature a curated newsfeed of AI-related content.

Angels joining in the latest round include Gary Gauba, founder of Cognilytics and The CXO Fund; and Manoj Saxena, chairman of CognitiveScale and former IBM Watson general manager.

Gary and Manoj are two names in a growing list tech investors backing CognitionX.

Also behind the firm are Brent Hoberman CBE, co-founder of lastminute.com; startup investor Esther Dyson; Joanna Shields, group CEO of BenevolentAI; entrepreneur and former Trade Secretary Lord Young; and William Tunstall-Pedoe, founder of Evi, which Amazon acquired and used to create virtual assistant Alexa.

CognitionX chief exec and co-founder Charlie Muirhead said: “It’s often said: ‘if we only knew what we knew, we would be three times more productive’. That quote from Lew Platt, CEO of Hewlett-Packard in the 1980s, is still the sentiment in many large organisations today.

“CognitionX’s Advice Platform addresses this challenge by matching questions to both internal and external experts in a simple, fast and cost-effective way.”

He added: “We’re starting with a focus on AI, but there’s huge potential to apply this model to advice on a whole range of other topics and domains.”

Unilever Ventures investment director Ian Lane commented: “CognitionX has identified a huge problem that needs solving.

“Its platform has the potential to help large enterprises unlock AI’s massive possibilities, along with leveraging existing internal expertise, which all too often goes to waste.”

He added: “We’re thrilled to be helping the team build upon the company’s momentum and look forward to seeing CognitionX go from strength to strength.”

The CXO Fund’s Gary Gauba said: “We are extremely impressed with the platform CognitionX has built and the business problems it is attempting to solve across multiple industries.

“The CXO Fund will be actively engaged with Charlie, Tabitha [Goldstaub, co-founder] and team to help them penetrate the US market and realize their full potential.”

Manoj Saxena commented: “CognitionX’s community is second to none. The company has done an incredible job of bringing together the leading figures in AI, through both world-class events and its growing network of experts.

“The corporate backing CognitionX’s latest investment represents is another enormous milestone for the company, along with further validating the solution it is building.”