Freshworks acquires AnswerIQ to strengthen its AI capabilities

Global customer engagement software firm Freshworks has acquired Bellevue, Washington-based AnsweriQ, a provider of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities for enterprises.

Financial specifics of the deal were undisclosed.

“AnsweriQ complements Freshworks’ AI engine, Freddy, by enabling enterprise organisations to fully leverage their existing customer data to scale self-service experiences and automate complex customer workflows. AnsweriQ’s unique ML models leverage AI algorithms against millions of customer interactions to generate automated self-service Q&As and improve next-step escalations,” homegrown company Freshworks said in a statement.

With AnsweriQ’s AI, Freddy will be able to anticipate customer needs, make recommendations for agents based on the conversations and perform tasks such as refunds and cancellations with no manual input required, the statement said.

AnsweriQ’s CEO Pradeep Rathinam has also joined Freshworks as its chief customer officer. He will oversee the company’s global customer support, onboarding and customer success organisations, and aims to increase satisfaction, retention and success of the combined customer base, including AnsweriQ customers such as 2K Games, Freshly and SeatGeek.

“Unlike clunky, siloed, legacy SaaS solutions, Freshworks is innovating to deliver a powerful and seamless experience across sales, marketing, customer success and support functions,” Rathinam said.

The acquisition is Freshworks’ second one in less than a year and comes on the heels of a nearly 60% year-on-year growth in billings for the company, the company said.

In May last year, it bought Silicon Valley-based Natero, another AI-enabled provider of predictive analytics, customer intelligence and workflow management solutions.

In November, it raised $150 million in its largest funding round since the firm’s inception. Within days, it opened its third India office in Hyderabad.

The company is currently undergoing a rapid growth phase with oncoming demand for its suite of customer engagement products, chief human resources officer Suman Gopalan had said at the Hyderabad office unveiling.