Singapore – Cloud communications provider Toku has announced its intent to acquire Singapore-based AI-powered conversational customer experience (CX) platform, AiChat, to support its vision of delivering a 360-degree CX platform tailored for APAC organisations.
Through this acquisition, Toku will gain AiChat’s industry-leading chatbot and messaging capabilities. When combined with Toku’s existing voice, messaging, and cloud communications suite, customers will benefit from a single, integrated platform to power their entire CX journey.
Once finalised, the acquisition will bolster Toku’s standing as a full-service CX technology firm, empowering the company to realise its goal of delivering seamless, personalised customer engagement across all channels.
The enhanced capabilities and synergies resulting from the collaboration between the two companies are projected to have an anticipated 50% revenue growth within the first twelve months.
By joining forces, Toku and AiChat will offer enterprise clients a single view of their customers with insights drawn from conversations across all channels, faster resolution of issues through seamless hand-offs between chat, voice, and other channels, and more personalised experiences tailored to individual customers at every step of their journey.
Besides integrating into Toku’s offerings, AiChat will maintain its status as a standalone product, catering to customers who favour a single, streamlined solution that delivers the best-in-class AI-powered conversational experience.
Toku’s acquisition of AiChat will mark the company’s second M&A activity in two consecutive years, following its acquisition of customer engagement firm Activeo Singapore in 2023, a strong testament to its solid business fundamentals and consistent upward growth trajectory.
As of now, no financial terms of the acquisition have been disclosed. However, the transaction is expected to close by Q3 2024.
AiChat employees will begin moving into Toku’s offices as part of the integration, bringing the company’s total strength to 160 dedicated CX professionals. Similar to last year’s acquisition of Activeo, no staff redundancies are expected from the acquisition; both companies are on a path to profitability and expect to tap into each other’s complementary strengths and talents to accelerate growth post-acquisition.
AiChat currently serves a variety of customers in multiple verticals across Southeast Asia, including Bayer, Marina Bay Sands, M1, Petron, Thomson Medical, and UPS.
Speaking on the acquisition, Thomas Laboulle, founder and CEO of 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.”
Brendon Blacker, managing partner of Delivery Hero Ventures, also commented, “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.”
Meanwhile, Kester Poh, founder and CEO of 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.”
