Technology has taken the marketing field through an immense transformation over the past two decades. And outstandingly from others, artificial intelligence is starting to shape the future of marketing practices. To keep up with the always-changing market and economy, many companies are adopting AI marketing tools within their activities to promote efficiency as well as customer satisfaction.
2023 trends: AI in marketing
In 2021, the global marketing tech, or MarTech, market utilizing AI accounted for $15.84 billion, with projections to reach more than $107.5 billion by 2028 (Statista). Taking Europe alone, the AI marketing market is expected to grow from $4 billion in 2021 to $27 billion in 2028 at a CAGR of 31.2%, Business Market Insights reports.
The applications of AI marketing tools are vast. According to McKinsey‘s past half-decade review, AI adoption among companies has more than doubled since 2017, and 50% of companies report utilizing AI in at least one area. Moreover, marketing and sales were reported as some of the most popular AI use cases. From advertising, promotion, content, experience, commerce, and sales to socials and relationships, artificial intelligence is commonly used for data analysis, content generation, Natural Language Processing, personalization, and automation of processes.
While today’s AI talks mostly revolve around viral AI chatbot ChatGPT by Open.AI, various AI marketing tools have been appearing worldwide for over a decade. Looking into Central and Eastern Europe, particularly the V4 region of Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary, The Recursive has selected 6 AI marketing startups to boost your strategy and help you optimize your plans for 2023.
6 AI marketing tools helping you connect with customers
edrone
Based: Krakow, Poland
Founders: Michal Blak, Rahim Blak
About: Established in 2016, edrone is an e-commerce CRM platform supporting clients with advanced automated marketing solutions and voice commerce. Edrone offers an all-in-one e-commerce marketing cloud that utilizes customer data to comprehend their behavior (Customer Intelligence) and encourage them (Marketing Automation) to enhance sales.
Highlights: In 2020, Edrone secured a $5.3M investment ($2.5M in a still ongoing Series A round and a $2.8M grant). The startup closed its Series A round of a total undisclosed amount in 2022, backed by VCs Atmos Ventures, PortfoLion Capital Partners, and Müller Medien. Today, edrone’s list of customers includes x-Kom, Decathlon, Tous, Wojas, and over 500 others.
Digital First AI
Based: Rzeszow, Poland
Founders: Rafał Tromczyński, Grzegorz Gracz, Michał Tokarski
About: Recently noted in our generative AI startups to watch in 2023, Digital First AI is a personal growth assistant delivering personalized marketing strategy within minutes utilizing AI technology. Based on the information given about the business, the solution recommends a list of marketing activities to scale revenues. Additionally, clients also have access to a library of tactics to view the strategies of famous brands and experienced marketers. The startup was founded in 2021.
Highlights: The MarTech startup raised $1.1M in a pre-seed round in 2022. Operating in 60 countries, the platform supports over 4000 companies and 2000 clients.
Kontent.ai
Based: Brno, Czech Republic
Founder: Petr Palas
About: Kontent.ai is a modular CMS (Content Management System) founded in 2015, enabling marketers to have complete control over content to speed up processes to market and engage audiences effectively across channels. Kontent.ai is an API-first, cloud-native headless platform that allows content creators and developers to produce higher-quality content, engage visitors throughout their journey, and reach customers on any channel and device.
Highlights: Kontent.ai is a daughter company of the well-established platform Kentico (2004). Listed among our top 10 biggest funding rounds in 2022 in the Czech Republic, the founder raised his first investment of $39M from London-based Expedition Growth Capital for both companies, with the majority going to more recently founded Kontent.ai. The platform’s clients include the University of Oxford, Cadbury, and Zurich Insurance.
Born Digital
Based: Prague, Czech Republic
Founders: Tomáš Malovec, Zenon Sliwka
About: Founded in 2019, Born Digital is an AI-powered platform for the advanced digitalization of contact centers. Born Digital’s tools suggest opportunities for customer interaction automation, handle calls and chats, and analyze and process email communication. As a result, the solution improves customer experience and saves time and operating costs.
Highlights: With over 60 B2B clients, including Microsoft, Packeta, Microsoft, and Axa, Born Digital currently operates in 6 countries. The startup secured a €600K seed round in 2021, supported by J&T Ventures.
Neticle
Based: Budapest, Hungary
Founders: Péter Szekeres, Róbert Horváth, Zoltán Csikós
About: Founded in 2012, Neticle develops media monitoring and text analysis solutions with an AI-powered social media listening and analytics tool. The solution allows marketers to monitor and analyze customer feedback, reviews, and comments from social media and other online sources in real time. Evaluating and categorizing customer feedback and sentiment, Neticle provides businesses with valuable insights into customer satisfaction, brand reputation, and market trends.
Highlights: The MarTech startup raised €2.5M Series A round in 2019 led by Lead Ventures. Today, Neticle operates in 27 countries and covers 31 languages. Notable clients include Allianz, Decathlon, Samsung, and Vodafone.
iERP.ai
Based: Bratislava, Slovakia
Founders: Dušan Korčák, Jozef Baláž
About: iERP.ai was established in 2019 with the goal of providing affordable AI-based solutions to improve companies’ online presence. Using a predictive analytics engine, the startup offers two services within its Nostradamus Cloud product; an SEO analysis tool and a content optimization tool. Furthermore, the iERP.ai solution offers real-time predictions on customer purchases, sales forecasting, and late payment predictions.
Highlights: iERP.ai closed its seed round of €520K in 2021, supported by funds Zero Gravity Capital, CB Investment Management, and a business angel. The company already cooperates with global giants, including Microsoft, Oracle, and Nvidia.
