The tech startup Amity Corp, run by the grandson of Thai billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont, has closed an investment round that raised $60 million, and plans to list its Thai unit, Amity Solutions.
The initial public offering of Amity Solutions (ASOL), a software and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) developer, is expected to take place in 2025 with the funds used to expand its business, said Korawad Chearavanont, the company’s executive chairman and founder.
The Series C funding round that raised $60 million will also help position Amity Corp to become a leading regional and global GenAI business, he said.
“This funding round marks a pivotal moment for ASOL and for Thailand’s AI ecosystem,” Mr Korawad said on Wednesday. “We hope that ASOL can play a role in helping Thailand become a global hub for GenAI innovation.
“Our vision is to leverage Thai talent and creativity to solve complex problems on a global scale using cutting-edge AI technology.”
The funding round comprised three parts. ASOL raised $41.6 million, led by Insight Capital with participation from several other new and existing investors.
Meanwhile, its parent company raised $18.4 million, led by the existing investor SMDV, with participation from Gobi Partners and several existing investors.
The third part includes debt, which was led and structured by AlteriQ Global, an Asia-focused private credit financier.
ASOL was spun off last year from Amity Corp to prepare for a planned listing on a local bourse in Thailand in 2025. It has yet to finalise whether it would list on the Stock Exchange of Thailand or the Market for Alternative Investment.
The funds raised will help enable the company to bolster its Thailand-based AI Labs, which build and develop GenAI-powered applications. It will also support the company’s efforts to compete with regional and global players, as well as acquire complementary companies abroad.
Since early 2023, the company’s AI Labs have successfully enhanced its software with GenAI.
One notable example is Amity Bots Plus, an enterprise platform whose chatbot mimics human conversations, resulting in better customer service delivery and profitability. Within a year of its launch, its GenAI version saw eight-fold growth in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and now accounts for 27% of the product line’s ARR.
While much of the company’s revenues, profits and customer base are located outside of Thailand, its GenAI solutions are already “live” at many leading businesses in Thailand.
About 35% to 40% of Amity’s revenue is generated in Thailand, where it counts local banks, government agencies as well as CP Group companies such as the 7-Eleven operator CP All and the telecoms firm True Corp as clients.
Keng Teik Koay, group chief executive of ASOL, said the funding would also allow the company to attract top talent and acquire strategic assets.
“It is very important to focus on skills and knowledge for building on top of large language models and the best AI technologies coming from the US and around the world, rather than trying to develop anything that competes with them,” Mr Korawad said.
Amity’s chatbots allow its business customers to quickly resolve issues or respond to employee queries, he said.
“Very popular among customers, is using the GenAI to create reports, analysis and recommendations after it is connected to their databases,” he said.
He said it was difficult to say whether AI was a bubble or not. However, the company is seeing very significant value that GenAI advancements of the past 18 months are adding to the operations of its customers.
Mr Korawad also addressed the challenges of dealing with “AI washing” — the growing practice of exaggerating the capabilities of a product or service that is sold as “AI” enabled or enhanced. He believes it would be obvious in the product in terms of how much value AI really adds and what it is capable of doing.
“Our customers see a very significant difference between the GenAI-powered version of our product and non-GenAI,” he said.
Mr Korawad said the company’s GenAI version of its enterprise chatbot platform grew very rapidly from zero contribution to product revenue just over a year ago to 27%, and it is expected to pass 50% in the coming months.
Mr Korawad, 29, is part of the billionaire Chearavanont family, which controls the agro-industrial conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group), one of the world’s biggest producers of livestock and animal feed. His father is CP Group CEO Suphachai Chearavanont.
Forbes magazine ranks the family as the second-richest in Thailand with a net worth of $29 billion.