Silicon Valley artificial intelligence (AI) startup Two Platforms (TWO) was backed with a $15 million investment from India’s Jio Platforms in exchange for a 25% stake in the company on a fully diluted basis, according to a blog post from TWO on Wednesday (Feb. 2).
TWO, founded by Pranav Mistry in July, focuses on building interactive and immersive AI experiences. TWO is moving towards what it believes is the next chapter of AI following text and voice — visual and interactive. A pioneer in the fields of robotics, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), Mistry was most recently the president and CEO of Samsung Technology and Advanced Research.
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Jio, led by Mukesh Ambani, is a subsidiary of Reliance Industries and is striving to transform digital services in India. Akash Ambani, director at Jio, said in a statement that the company is amazed at TWO’s capabilities in AR, AI and machine learning (ML), as well as the metaverse and Web 3.0.
“We look forward to working together with TWO to help expedite development of new products in the areas of interactive AI, immersive gaming and metaverse,” Ambani said.
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TWO is looking to bring its interactive AI tech to consumer apps initially and then move on to entertainment and gaming, according to reports. Retail, education, health and other services are also on deck.
Mistry said that with Jio, which has been the foundation of India’s digital overhaul, he envisions introducing AI to AR on a large scale to benefit both consumers and businesses.
“Jio, with its extensive digital ecosystem and subscriber base of over 425 million people, is foundational to India’s digital transformation. We are excited to have Jio as an investor to push the boundaries of AI and introduce applications of Artificial Reality to consumers and businesses at scale. Our collaboration will combine the power of TWO’s technologies and Jio’s reach, and together build the future of digital life for billions in India and globally,” according to the TWO blog post.