Kenya AI startup receives pre-seed round investment from EchoVC

by Tech in Africa July 29, 2021, 11:09 am 442 Views

EchoVC proudly announces a pre-seed investment into KOSA.ai – an AI-driven startup running an automated responsible platform that supports enterprises in building and deploying AI systems. The raise also drew participation from APX, Dale Mathias, TheContinent Venture Partners, Fine Day Ventures, and Arch Capital.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology affects both consumers and enterprises in a manner never imagined before by humanity – creating one of the greatest economic opportunities of our lifetime. The sector alone will deliver an estimated contribution of $16 trillion to the global economy by 2030.

AI delivers automation and other valuable insights that help companies scale more efficiently while providing better products and services. A 2020 survey by IBM found that over 75% of enterprises across Europe, the United States, and China have deployed AI or are ramping it in their exploratory phases. IBM estimates this percentage to hit 80-90% in the coming years.

Despite the positive news, there are several challenges facing this AI uptick such as limited in-house expertise for building and developing AI models that manage data complexities. One consequence of AI biases is the effect on both small and large enterprises. This originates from the systematic prejudices and unfairness in AI-driven algorithms brought about by poor training or real-world data used in the development, or from some conscious or subconscious developer biases. Such biases may not manifest till the post-development phase as soon as the AI model starts drifting when deployed in the real world.

Kosa, a data analytics and algorithm company is looking to help enterprises detect, audit, and explain the biases in their AI models while implementing corrective steps that address and mitigate such biases. Kosa is founded by Layla Li and Sonali Sanghrajka.

KOSA is the multi-vertical layered approach when participating in the AI sector. The investment thesis is mainly centered on backing two founders tackling a difficult yet inevitable problem.