Canada’s 1001 Squared Acquires Nigeria’s Chatbot Directory QuickHelp
Nigerian SMS/Chatbot based directory, QuickHelp, which primarily functions as a free community-based business locator built with SMS and Chatbot technologies, has been acquired by Canadian social enterprise firm, 1001 Squared Artificial Intelligence.
The mobile contact service is an accredited source for accessing contact information on demand with the ability to provide on-demand filtered and smart data, instead of cumbersome directory services or search engines. This made it an appealing procurement for the Canadian firm which has ambitions of facilitating the advanced use of artificial intelligence to enhance and improve the quality of education in developing areas globally.
QuickHelp’s pride and joy is its QuickMe voice-enabled service that allows users to locate goods and services within their communities through a Conversational User Interface (CUI). The speech recognition service has a Text to Speech (TTS) function which allows the chatbot to communicate with users audibly and CEO Tosin Odubela lauds its ability to bring underrepresented SMEs to the forefront of their society.
The three-year-old startup was launched on the premise of helping small business owners but has since evolved into a more comprehensive service offering utilizing AI backend technology. One can only imagine the limitless possibilities of the Nigerian start-up and its impact on shaping the educational space throughout the continent.
Odubela has expressed his delight on the AI journey undertaken by the startup. He mentioned that they had some more proposals, but were glad to secure the deal with 1001squared.
With the acquisition deal, QuickHelp can begin plans to expand into the rest of the continent in the coming months with the backing of 1001.
