Grace Ashiru
Zimbabwean entrepreneurs Michael Moyo and Louis Murerwa have secured US$2 million in pre-seed funding for Ocular AI, a technology startup developing specialised data to improve advanced artificial intelligence systems.
The investment round was led by Drive Capital, with participation from Y Combinator, Alumni Ventures, 1745 Ventures, Orange Collective, MyAsia VC and several angel investors.
Founded in 2024, Ocular AI specialises in producing high-quality datasets, evaluations and benchmarks used by companies developing artificial intelligence models.
Unlike many African AI startups focused on creating applications for local consumers, Ocular AI supplies resources directly to major international technology companies and AI research laboratories.
The company says its customers include leading frontier AI laboratories and Fortune 100 businesses, although their identities have not been publicly disclosed.
Ocular AI focuses particularly on voice-based artificial intelligence, an emerging technology designed to enable natural conversations between humans and machines.
Conventional voice systems generally convert speech into written text before processing responses, potentially losing important information such as tone, hesitation, emphasis and conversational timing.
Newer voice-native models are designed to process speech more directly, allowing systems to recognise interruptions, overlapping conversations and changes in speaking patterns.
However, developing these capabilities requires specialised training material that accurately reflects human communication.
Ocular AI addresses this challenge by recording studio-quality conversations and developing assessments that identify weaknesses in existing models.
The company is also expanding into audiovisual data, supporting systems capable of processing speech, facial expressions and gestures simultaneously.
Its approach involves an Expert Network of thousands of vetted specialists who contribute professional knowledge to improve dataset quality and model evaluation.
According to the company, this combination of expert input and technical research helps developers identify areas requiring improvement.
Ocular AI reports that it has already generated seven-figure revenue, although it has not disclosed precise financial figures.
The latest funding demonstrates growing investor interest in African-founded companies operating within the global artificial intelligence supply chain.
For Moyo and Murerwa, the investment provides an opportunity to expand their company’s role in supporting the development of increasingly sophisticated AI systems.
The company has not disclosed the specific allocation of its new funding or detailed information about its operational locations.
