The startup Sia is one of more than 300 Catalan companies that are dedicated to the flourishing deep tech technologies sector. Like most of these, it is recently created: it was born in May 2023. Its founder is André Caçador, a telecommunications engineer who already has previous experience as an entrepreneur and executive director in startups also in the technological field.
“With Sia I wanted to create a company that would help companies when it comes to integrating generative artificial intelligence of language models, such as ChatGPT,” explains Caçador. Generative artificial intelligence consists of mathematical models that, based on initial information, generate a result. Tools for translating or transcribing texts use this technology.
After an investment of 600,000 euros, raised in an investment round led by the venture capital manager Inveready, the startup has just launched its first solution on the market: Mercury by Sia. “Our goal is to develop tools to help companies in their different operations, and with Mercury we have focused on the sales aspect,” says the founder.
Mercury by Sia, which has already been tested with some real clients, is a virtual sales agent or assistant that interacts with users. “It helps our clients' customers have a much more personalized and human purchasing experience, improving the final experience,” says the entrepreneur. Among the capabilities or tasks that this virtual agent has are the recommendation and comparison of products, more specific tasks such as adding to the cart, adding payment information or purchasing through actions that the customer does every day. “We transform the purchasing experience of a product or service,” adds Caçador.
With this first solution, which will be followed by others that are already in development, Sia is aimed at companies in the world of finance and fashion and online stores in general. Headquartered in Barcelona and with a staff of ten, the startup's focus is the European market.
The startup, which has been accelerated by Cuatrecasas Acelera, plans to attract between 50 and 100 clients this year and exceed 100,000 euros in turnover in what will be its first full year. To meet these goals and continue growing, the founder of Sia plans to double the workforce and close a second investment round of one million euros.
