Amazon Introduces the Alexa Fund: $100 Million in Investments to Fuel Voice Technology Innovation
June 25 2015 - 9:04AM
Business Wire
The Alexa Fund is dedicated to empowering
developers, manufacturers, and start-ups of all sizes who have
ideas for how voice technology can improve everyday life
(NASDAQ: AMZN)—Amazon today announced the Alexa Fund, up to $100
million in investments to support developers, manufacturers, and
start-ups of all sizes who are passionate about creating new
experiences designed around the human voice. The Alexa Fund—named
for Alexa, the cloud-based voice service that powers Amazon Echo—is
open to anyone with an innovative idea for how voice technology can
improve customers’ lives. Alexa Fund investment decisions will be
made based on the potential for unique or novel applications of
voice technology that leverage the Alexa Skills Kit or the Alexa
Voice Service, which were also announced today. The Fund launches
today with seven initial investments. Learn more and apply for
funding at https://developer.amazon.com/AlexaFund.
“Experiences designed around the human voice will fundamentally
improve the way people use technology,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com
Founder and CEO. “Since introducing Amazon Echo, we’ve heard from
developers, manufacturers, and start-ups of all sizes who want to
innovate with this new technology. With the Alexa Fund, we want to
empower people to explore the boundaries of voice technology. We’re
eager to see what they come up with.”
Amazon also today introduced the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK), a
collection of self-service APIs and tools that make it fast and
easy for developers to create new voice-driven skills and
capabilities for Alexa. With a few lines of code, developers can
easily integrate existing web services with Alexa or, in just a few
hours, they can build entirely new experiences designed around
voice. For example, an Internet-connected sprinkler system can
integrate its sprinklers with Alexa, so a customer can say, “Alexa,
ask my sprinkler to water my lawn for 15 minutes.” Read the press
release: www.amazon.com/ASK.
In addition, Amazon today announced that the Alexa Voice Service
(AVS), the same service that powers Amazon Echo, is now available
to third party hardware makers who want to integrate Alexa into
their devices—for free. For example, a Wi-Fi alarm clock maker can
create an Alexa-enabled clock radio, so a customer can talk to
Alexa as they wake up, asking “What’s the weather today?” or “What
time is my first meeting?” Read the press release:
www.amazon.com/AVS.
The Alexa Fund is launching with seven initial investments:
- Orange Chef is a start-up that
has created a new product for the kitchen called “Countertop,” a
mobile app that connects to an ecosystem of cooking tools such as
blenders and slow cookers to measure and track ingredients placed
into those devices—all powered by Orange Chef’s cloud service
nutrition database. Orange Chef sees an opportunity to use
voice instead of a phone app in recognition of the fact that
cooking can be messy and is often a two-handed operation. For
example, customers can use Echo or another Alexa-enabled device
while using a blender to ask “Alexa, how many calories are in this
smoothie?” or, with a slow cooker, a customer can ask “Alexa, how
much more barbeque sauce do I need to add to the pulled pork?”
- Scout Alarm is a do-it-yourself
home security system provider and connected security device maker.
The Scout system includes a hub, entry sensors, motion detectors
and a smartphone companion app. Now, Scout is using the Alexa
Skills Kit to enable customers to tell Echo or another
Alexa-enabled device “Alexa, arm Sleep Mode” before going to bed or
ask, “Alexa, what were the last five events?” from the comfort of
the couch. With Alexa and Scout, there's no need to fumble for a
control panel or app to quickly turn off the alarm—just ask
Alexa.
- Garageio provides a system to
control and to monitor the status of a garage door from anywhere.
Garageio’s product—the Blackbox—is designed to be simple to install
and fits onto existing garage door openers. The Blackbox then
connects to the garage door via the home’s Wi-Fi network, and an
associated smartphone app gives users control of the garage door
from anywhere. Using the Alexa Skills Kit, Garageio is adding
capabilities to Alexa that help a customer quickly find out if
their garage door is open or if the alarm is set. For example,
before falling asleep many homeowners think through whether the
doors are all locked, the windows are all shut, and the garage door
is closed—if they can’t remember, they have to get out of bed and
go check all the doors manually. Now, all it takes is a quick
question to Echo or another Alexa-enabled device: “Alexa, ask
Garageio, is the garage door open?” If the answer is “yes,” just
say “Alexa, tell Garageio to close the garage door.”
- Toymail is creating a new
category of connected toys that enable parents and children to
communicate without the need for the child to be using a smartphone
or tablet device. Parents can talk to a child through a toy called
the Mailman that has a speaker, a microphone, and an Internet
connection. They simply use the Toymail mobile app to leave voice
messages that are delivered to their child on the
Mailman. Now, with the Alexa Skills Kit, Toymail is enabling a
grandparent to say, “Alexa, send a Toymail for Ben…I love you and
remind your mom I’m bringing dinner over at 5 pm tonight. I can’t
wait to see you guys.” In addition, Toymail is using the Alexa
Voice Service to add Alexa capabilities to the Mailman—just press a
button on the Mailman to say “Alexa, read a story” for the family
to enjoy a bedtime audiobook together via the toy’s speakers.
- Dragon Innovation provides a
suite of products and services that help hardware start-ups and
device makers go from “garage to factory” to make their ideas a
reality with a framework that guides them through all stages of
production—from prototype through sales. As part of the Alexa Fund,
Dragon is establishing expertise in using Alexa Voice Services and
the Alexa Skills Kit for new products, and is committed to thinking
“voice-first” when working with their customers on new products.
Dragon is working with clients to add Alexa capabilities to their
devices quickly and easily.
- MARA is an intelligent,
voice-based running assistant that provides performance data and
training information during exercise, serving as a virtual running
coach or personal trainer. MARA is using the Alexa Voice Service
and the Alexa Skills Kit to give users easy access to information
about their workouts. For example, ask Echo or any Alexa-enabled
device “Alexa, how many miles have I run so far this week?” or
“What has my average pace been this week?”
- Mojio is a leading provider of
connected car solutions. The company’s device connects to a
vehicle’s OBD-II port and extracts driving performance, on-board
systems status, and other diagnostic data. Mojio uses the Alexa
Skills Kit to enable customers to use Echo or other Alexa-enabled
devices to ask “Alexa, do I need to get gas on the way to work
today?” before leaving home or “Alexa, where is my daughter driving
the car this evening?”, giving them the peace of mind that the car
is healthy and the kids are safe.
The Alexa Fund will invest in people and companies with a
passion for how voice can improve the way we interact with everyday
technology. Areas of particular interest include:
- New hardware products for inside or
outside the home that would benefit from Alexa’s voice
interface.
- New features and
functionality for Alexa.
- New contributions to the science behind
voice technology, including text-to-speech, natural language
understanding, and automatic speech recognition.
Innovators selected for funding will receive additional benefits
beyond financial support. With established business and technology
expertise, Amazon will help them take their ideas from concept to
the marketplace by offering tools such as early access to SDK
capabilities, hands-on development support for hardware or
software, enhanced marketing support on Amazon.com, placement at
Amazon showcase events, membership in AWS Activate, and more.
Alexa is the brain behind Amazon Echo, a new category of device
designed around your voice. It is hands-free and always on—ask it
for information, music, news, and weather from across the room and
get results or answers instantly. Alexa is built in the cloud and
leverages AWS to continue to learn and add functionality over
time.
To share your idea and apply for an investment from the Alexa
Fund, visit at https://developer.amazon.com/AlexaFund.
About Amazon
Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The
company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather
than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to
operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews,
1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment
by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire phone, Fire
tablets, Fire TV, and Amazon Echo are some of the products and
services pioneered by Amazon.
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