Indigenous AI Company Provided COVID-19 Funding

TORONTO – February 24, 2021 – Two Rivers Community Development Centre, an organization dedicated to helping First Nation businesses and Indigenous entrepreneurs grow and flourish, today confirmed funding to Kama.AI, a Toronto-based Indigenous tech firm whose emotional intelligence platform is carving out a unique niche in the fast-growing AI sector.

“Strong businesses build strong communities, which is why we are pleased to announce that Two Rivers has awarded COVID-19 Business Recovery funding to Kama.AI, an Indigenous Artificial Intelligence company in the Greater Toronto Area,” said David Vince, CEO of Two Rivers. “It was exciting to assist a company developing such a promising solution in this growing high-tech area. Their patented technology is impressive and we were happy to be able to contribute.”  

Kama.AI’s “Designed Emotional Intelligence”®  or EI platform, is built on a knowledgebase of real-world relationships, combined with a patented (human) value-rating technology that allows the ‘EI’ to understand and think like humans do. This technology is now patented in four jurisdictions including Canada, the United States, China, and Israel. The solution enables more ‘human’ interactions in automated online environments through chatbots, Facebook Messenger, or smart speakers like Amazon Alexa. 

Brian Ritchie, Kama.AI’s CEO, was delighted to be approved for the Business Recovery Funding. “Even though the market for AI platforms remains strong despite the effects of COVID-19, launching a new commercial platform during a global pandemic creates challenges in both the customer and investment markets. Since March of last year, we have been encouraged by the strong and continued interest from our own shareholder group participating in new equity funding. Two Rivers’ Business Recovery Financing program, with its combined debt and grant portions, was ideal for us to secure additional working capital in such a turbulent economic climate.”

Kama.AI began offering commercial service in May 2020 with its first customer, Canadian software vendor, SmartDesk CRM. In August it launched service with Canada’s largest rural internet service provider Xplornet Communications Inc. The company’s newest customer, Indigenous Tourism Ontario, is a key player in the Indigenous recreational business ecosystem.

Kevin Eshkawkogan, CEO of Indigenous Tourism Ontario, said, “it is always great to do business with members from our own communities. Like many others in the industry, ITO and its member organizations, are going through digital transformations to adapt to changing times. We have already experimented and piloted virtual reality tours of the region. Kama.AI allows us to explore giving our own website, and our member’s websites and services, virtual voices that promote our traditional values of culture, story-telling and wisdom while protecting the environment. We are excited to have signed on as one of Kama’s latest customers.” 

This funding was provided through Ontario’s Indigenous Economic Development Fund to respond to the needs of small-medium sized Indigenous-owned businesses impacted by COVID-19.

About Two Rivers Community Development Centre

Two Rivers Community Development Centre provides Indigenous entrepreneurs and businesses the business support and resources they need to succeed. With a committed team of professionals to assist you, Two Rivers can provide business loans, engaging workshops and seminars, a business resource centre, and more.

About Kama.AI

Kama.AI’s Designed Emotional Intelligence® platform, Kama DEI, is a natural language conversational intelligence that lets brands and organizations educate and support their clients with personalized service guided by consumer values like “culture”, “style”, “health” or “companionship”. End user clients can access the platform through any medium including chatbots, FB Messenger, Alexa or mobile phone apps. The result is anytime access to automated, personalized product and service information while live CSRs focus on higher value-added conversations. 

With the launch of Kama-as-a-Service (KaaS) in the summer of 2020, the company’s value-based contextual understanding and conversational intelligence can now be added to virtually any chatbot with any backend RPA or AI solution.