AI startup Forethought raised $17m from celebrity investors like Diddy, Ashton Kutcher, and more

Deon Nicholas, a tech entrepreneur, launched Forethought to change the Artificial Intelligence (AI) industry. There was a lot of hype around the industry as chatbots were touted to replace human customer service. However, the hype appears to have died down due to unsatisfactory solutions provided by chatbots.

San Francisco based tech firm Forethought has set out to save customer service from chunky bots. Forethought is an AI startup that creates order, removes redundant work, and provides efficiency for businesses everywhere.

The firm relies on the customer supports software called Agatha, which applies past solutions to problems thereby reducing resolution times and leading to higher accuracy. “Agatha is able to figure out when new problems start to arise and how to respond to them by listening to how [human] agents are responding,” Nicholas told Forbes. The company says over 500,000 claims have already been resolved.

Nicholas launched the Forethought alongside ex-LinkedIn engineer Sami Ghoche in 2018. In October, Forethought announced that it has raised $17 million from celebrity investors like Ashton Kutcher, Diddy and LL Cool J during a Series B funding round.

Investor Ashton Kutcher said he had reservations about backing the customer service tool until his Sound team was impressed with how it worked. “It’s a headache so many of our portfolio companies have, because with everything becoming 24/7, customer service has to be 24/7. And it gets more complicated when everything is on-demand and everything is at your fingertips,” Kutcher said.

“There’s a lot of folks who are working on different AI things, but no one really has a front door to it,” Qualtrics CEO Ryan Smith added. “Watching what Deon is doing, they are making every organization way more intelligent.”

According to Forbes, Nicholas had a “tough time” closing the Series B funding following the death of George Floyd and the ensuing protests. However, he worked with Kutcher to receive the support of celebrity investors like Diddy, LL Cool J and more.

“For me, it is really important to tell a new story, change the face of what success looks like,” Nicholas said. “I’ve always been a builder, so if that’s what I can do for the world, then I’m going to do that and make waves while I’m at it.”