188bet online live casino, a chatbot service provider focusing on travel segmentation scenarios, completed a US million Series A investment，Led by Lazard Korea’s SPK AI Travel Tech Fund，Linear Capital、Construction-Radiant Tech Venture Capital Fund、Hong Kong ITVFC Fund、Artesian Capital、SOSV and its accelerator Chinaccelerator followed the investment。

The company received investment led by Linear Capital in 2017，USD 3 million in Pre-A round financing from the Hong Kong government’s Cyberport Macro Fund and Zhuhai Hengqin Group’s co-investments。Previously，188bet online live casino has completed a seed round from 500 Startups。

188bet online live casino was founded in 2015，When entering the mainland market in 2018，China’s online tourism industry has completed integration，The industry’s low gross profit and high investment costs mean that a forced breakout is tantamount to a money-burning war。Therefore，188bet online live casino has selected the “overseas travel + life services” subdivision track with higher gross profit，Using technology to enter the travel ecology。

188bet online live casino has two technologies: AI chatbot and one-stop management system that aggregates partner resources，Inventory Management Covered、Data Management、Distribution、Customer analysis and other services。According to company introduction，188bet online live casino has partnered with over 100 travel content and product providers，For example, Klook、Marriott、Tuniu.com, etc.。

At present，188bet online live casino’s business can be divided into two business lines: To B and To C。

The profit of To B business mainly comes from the one-time research and development expenses of the above two technologies、Monthly usage fee，As well as sales profit sharing and advertising fees within the management system。Enterprise customers include China Mobile、Samsung Group、SITA 、Hong Kong Airlines, etc.。Among them，188bet online live casino provides AI for Bixby, the voice assistant for Samsung phones 、Voice、Product system and other aspects of support。

To build an AI chatbot, you must base yourself on the market，Provide personalized solutions for B-side customers。Company CEO Abel Zhao explained to 36Kr.com，Since the Korean market is still relatively unfamiliar with AI chatbots，The design needs to add more button options to guide the user。Also，Some B-side clients，It will also be required to retain a certain proportion of manual customer service intervention。

The management system that aggregates dispersed overseas 188bet online live casino resources broadens the front-end scenarios for B-end customers。“Take the hotel as an example，The main product of a hotel is basically the room、Restaurant。If we share the inventory management system with the hotel，Can satisfy customers’ local transportation、Eating and shopping needs，For example, use our 188bet online live casino assistant to find restaurants，Order，Even translate the dialogue of the ordering staff。”Abel said。

For 188bet online live casino，The B-side is both a customer，Traffic again。

Through cooperation with B-side customers in promotional activities，188bet online live casino gains low-cost brand exposure。Except pre-installed on mobile phones，Samsung Group also provides 188bet online live casino with millions of text messages per month。In-depth cooperation with China Mobile for outbound travel，Also brought 188bet online live casino a promotion budget of 3 million during the peak summer travel period。

The company’s C-side business strategy is relatively “light”—it has not developed its own app , But by accessing the WeChat applet，WhatsApp and Facebook are the three major platforms to provide services。

Covering all scenes，Being an “overseas travel version of Meituan” is 188bet online live casino’s C-side strategy。In Abel’s opinion，Travel is a relatively low-frequency demand，Enter daily life services，In order to better cultivate user stickiness。AI chatbot is both a pre-trip planning assistant for personalized travel，Another translator on the trip、Daily life assistant。Users no longer need to be in OTA 、Comments、Jump between multiple programs such as travel，You can check the subway timetable through 188bet online live casino、Buy movie tickets、Order takeout, etc.。 According to Abel’s introduction，60%-70% of the service has been fully implemented within the program，This proportion will reach 90% in the future。

Currently，188bet online live casino To B、To C business accounted for 8.5:1.5，Chinese users account for 70%，South Korea accounts for 20%，Southeast Asia accounts for 10%。After Samsung becomes a B-side customer，The growth rate of the Korean market is relatively high。In the future, we hope to further integrate C-side customers on the platform，To achieve To B 、To C business ratio 7:3。

As a technology provider with its own C-side platform，188bet online live casino has many “friends and enemies”。In Abel’s opinion，Major online travel agencies、Travel platforms are both competitors，Another potential partner，Compare with them，188bet online live casino has technical advantages，Technology can be used to leverage cooperation；Compared to competitors who also develop AI chatbots，Because of the existence of application scenarios， 188bet online live casino has data advantages in machine learning。

According to 36Kr’s previous reports，CEO Abel has more than 15 years of experience in the tourism IT and consulting industry, Served as regional director at Amadeus and Travelport, two major tourism IT giants。The company’s core team is traveling、Technical experience，The person responsible for artificial intelligence technology once worked for the CIA。Also，188bet online live casino is the third Hong Kong company to enter 500 Startups, a well-known incubator in Silicon Valley。

*this文来Source:36氪, author: Guo Chen, original title: "36氪First release，Chatbot service provider 188bet online live casino completes US million in Series A financing》.