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SoftBank-Backed AI Startup Appier Raises $80 Million

SoftBank Group Corp.-backed customer analytics startup Appier Inc. has raised $80 million from investors.

SoftBank-Backed AI Startup Appier Raises $80 Million
A sign bearing the SoftBank Corp. logo is displayed outside the company’s store as pedestrians use their mobile phones in Tokyo, Japan. (Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- SoftBank Group Corp.-backed customer analytics startup Appier Inc. has raised $80 million from investors including private equity firm TGVest Capital to expand globally and into new industries beyond digital marketing.

The artificial intelligence outfit from Taiwan also counts Hopu-Arm Innovation Fund, a venture between Hopu Investment Management Co. and Arm Holdings Inc.; Temasek Holdings Pte’s Pavilion Capital; Insignia Ventures; Jafco Investment and UMC Capital Corp. in its latest funding round, according to a statement Tuesday.

Appier’s products help retailers retain customers and advertisers understand and capitalize on consumer tendencies, predicting user behavior using its AI platform. It serves more than 1,000 companies, according to the statement.

Founded in Taipei in 2012, Appier now has more than 400 employees across 12 markets. It has raised $162 million in funding to date from investors including Sequoia Capital, SoftBank and Line Corp.

To contact the reporter on this story: Yoolim Lee in Singapore at yoolim@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Edwin Chan at echan273@bloomberg.net, Vlad Savov

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