Singapore – Toku, a cloud communications provider, has recently announced its plans to acquire AiChat, a Singapore-based AI-powered conversational customer experience platform. This strategic acquisition intends to offer Asia-Pacific organisations 360-degree tailored customer engagement solutions.
For this initiative, the company is set to gain AiChat’s industry-leading chatbot and messaging capabilities. This will allow customers to benefit from a single, integrated platform to power their entire CX journey, particularly when combined with Toku’s existing voice, messaging, and cloud communications suite.
These expanded capabilities and synergies are projected to result in an estimated 50% revenue growth within the initial twelve months.
Once completed, the said acquisition will further empower the company in its vision to provide personalised customer engagement seamlessly across all channels.
The said collaboration will also provide enterprise clients with a unified customer view, leveraging insights from conversations across all channels. This will enable faster issue resolution through transitions between chat, voice, and other channels as well as deliver personalised experiences for individual customers at every stage of their journey.
Apart from Toku’s integration, AiChat will also remain operational as a standalone product, allowing customers searching for an AI-powered conversational experience to opt for a single, streamlined solution.
Thomas Laboulle, founder and chief executive officer at Toku, said, “The acquisition of AiChat is a natural next step in our mission to be Asia Pacific’s leading customer experience platform.”
“Both companies share a vision of using AI to enhance customer interactions and improve contact centre operations. Together, we can deliver even more value to our customers through a unified set of omnichannel solutions,” he added.
Brendon Blacker, managing partner at Delivery Hero Ventures, also stated, “As a major strategic investor in Toku, we enthusiastically welcome the acquisition of AiChat. This move is a strategic enhancement to Toku’s portfolio, positioning it as an innovator in the region’s CX industry.”
“AiChat’s expertise in conversational AI and regional insights, combined with Toku’s advanced cloud contact centre solutions, effectively amplifies their unique competitive advantages and signals a deliberate step towards expanding and solidifying their leadership in the market,” concluded Brendon.
Meanwhile, Kester Poh, founder and chief executive officer at AiChat, said, “We are excited to join Toku. Toku’s commitment to CX excellence mirrors our values, making this acquisition a strategic and natural alignment.”
“This partnership is a key milestone for us, revealing significant opportunities for synergy and growth as leading CX providers in APAC. Together, we aim to simplify customer operations, offering a unified platform for efficient and effective customer experience management,” he noted.
Meanwhile, the acquisition of AiChat marks the company’s second M&A activity in two consecutive years, following its recent acquisition of customer engagement firm Activeo Singapore in 2023.
As part of the integration, AiChat employees will also begin moving into Toku’s offices, increasing the company’s dedicated CX professionals to 160. This would run similar to the acquisition of Activeo last year, with no staff redundancies expected from this acquisition.
Presently, AiChat serves a variety of customers across Southeast Asia, including Bayer, Marina Bay Sands, M1, Petron, Thomson Medical, and UPS, across multiple verticals.
