Microsoft Invests In Bulider.ai To Elevate Its AI Capabilities

London-headquartered artificial intelligence-focussed startup Builder.ai has announced investment from US tech giant Microsoft. Though the startup hasn’t disclosed the funding amount, it said both the company will collaborate on creating AI-powered solutions that will empower businesses to develop applications.

With this collaboration, both the companies plan to grow market presence by establishing connections. The companies are looking at building connections between products, ranging from Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service, other Azure Cognitive Services with Builder.ai’s software assembly line and adoption of the Microsoft Cloud and AI. 

Builder.ai further claimed that the integration of its AI product manager Natasha within the Microsoft Teams store will help Microsoft customers to build their business model application prototypes.

Following the collaboration, the startup will help businesses with their digital transformation requirements by offering integrated access to cloud services on Azure. 

The fresh development comes almost a year after the startup raised $100 Mn in its Series C funding round. Back then, the round was led by New York-based Insight Partners. The round, which brought the startup’s total funding to $195 Mn also included participation from its existing investors and new investors including IFC and Jeffrey Katzenberg WndrCo and Nikesh Arora.

Founded in 2016 by Sachin Dev Duggal and Saurabh Dhoot in Gurugram, Builder.ai offers a platform for entrepreneurs to build their apps without a little to no coding knowledge with the help of AI. The startup claims that its platform builds software and apps up to 6x faster and up to 70% cheaper than ‘traditional’ human teams.

Also, the fresh collaboration aligns with Microsoft’s vision of competing with Google’s Workspace by utilising AI power. Microsoft’s ChatGpt has already demonstrated how AI can be harnessed to unlock personal and professional potential. Further, in March, Microsoft  launched a new AI integration and features for its Office 365 with an AI assistant called Copilot. 

Just yesterday, Google in its I/O keynote previewed Duet AI for workspace that will help in drafting email, get quick summaries and write documents.

AI-focussed startups have captured increasing investors’ attention lately because of the new found popularity and aggressive adoption of AI across segments and industries. Early this year, amidst the funding winter, Mad Street Den bagged $30 Mn, whereas emotional AI startup Entropik bagged $25 Mn in its Series B, led by Bessemer Venture Partners and SIG Venture Capital in February.

As per IMARC report, India’s AI market is expected to cross $3,933 Mn by 2028.