Fano Labs contacts seed round

Fano Labs, a Hong Kong-based language processing spinout from University of Hong Kong (HKU), has raised an unspecified sum in a seed round led by VC firm Horizons Ventures.

Further details on the round were not disclosed.

Founded in 2015, Fano Labs is developing artificial intelligence (AI)-based natural language processing (NLP) to analyse call centre records for legal, training and quality purposes. The system sifts through recordings to identify those that warrant manual assessment.

The capital will help Fano Labs develop support for Chinese dialects in addition to Cantonese, Sichuanese, Mandarin and English. Fano Labs has secured contracts with unnamed property developers as well as telecoms and utility companies.

Miles Wen, a PhD graduate in electrical and electronic engineering at HKU, co-founded Fano alongside Victor Li, who leads the same department while working as a chair professor in information engineering.

Fano Labs previously obtained capital from HKU as well as the state-owned commercialisation agency Innovation and Technology Commission of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Science Park.

AI-focused accelerator Zeroth.ai has also supplied Fano as have unnamed angels, though details have not been disclosed.

Miles Wen, now chief executive of Fano Labs, said: “We are a team of scientists and engineers. Our world-class technical expertise in speech and NLP technologies would empower us to revolutionise the way call centres operate.

“Our bond with HKU, one of the oldest universities in the region, brings us deep intellectual and academic resources. We aim to be the hub of AI in Asia.”