Introduction

Since its launch in 2012, Weni has brought technology to environments with global impact, especially in supporting the UN through communication in high-engagement projects. Weni has had many successful cases over the years. Our sole mission is to offer innovative solutions that enable organizations from around the world to tap into the full human potential within their teams. Consequently, altering how they communicate through smart, open and accessible technology. 

Weni allows users to create chatbots with different integrations. This helps to reduce the costs of customer service and speed up internal processes. What makes Weni different from other platforms is its use of artificial intelligence (AI) in generating conversations that flow more naturally to create a greater human-like experience. 

Weni’s AI module received personalized mentorships and funding from UNICEF's Venture Fund which allowed it to become the world’s greatest Natural Language Processing (NLP) system. Today, over 180 languages are integrated into the system, including the most accurate Brazilian Portuguese. 

Using chatbots to generate resources transforms how non-profit organizations communicate with their donors. AI virtual assistants are capable of answering calls and increasing meaningful engagement with the audience while reducing costs. The chatbot talks to the volunteers from the organization as if it were human, which allows for an empathetic exchange. The bot also stimulates participation by answering simple questions from the audience. Ultimately, this technology allows automated engagement campaigns to work practically and smartly. 

With the experience gathered alongside organizations and partners from third sector organizations, Weni was selected as a Business Solution Provider for WhatsApp. This means that we've partnered with the most popular messenger app in the world and can offer their solution to NGOs that wish to use the platform’s API. With our solution, it is possible to integrate chatbots into different communication channels, send messages, and engage the audience with meaningful content. 

An example of this is the Health Buddy chatbot, which was trained to explain and comprehend conversations about the spread of COVID-19, the means of protection, symptoms, to identify high-risk groups, and debunk myths. Health Buddy's chatbot informs its audience reliably and effectively. The portal at https://healthbuddy.info/ presents COVID news and data to demystify information. The portal hosts the chatbot created by the startup. 

Frontier Tech and Open Source

Open source has always been part of Weni's strategy and values. Most of the technical stack on Weni’s Platform is open-source. This affords us great advantages, such as security, accessibility, and scalability without abandoning the human side or technological independence. This is very important for the company's growth as it allows us to play an important role in advancing the SDGs that Weni is committed to helping attain. 

Weni has a low-code platform designed to build robust and flexible global communication solutions for audience-centric organizations. Using state-of-the-art technology and reference in AI, as well as natural language processing, allows for powerful algorithms. These algorithms can range from understanding the reason for a user's contact to being able to extract answers to a question using a supporting textbase. 

In addition, the communication processes and workflow automation technology used allows the creation and maintenance of solutions and projects. This is all while using an accessible, flexible and scalable business model already validated in the market. 

The Team

Weni was built by a diverse and multidisciplinary team with more than 80 employees across Brazil and Latin America. The search for training, development and the well-being of the team is a priority for our company. We strive to ensure the best possible environment for our employees so that the team can function at their peak potential. A good relationship with partners and important stakeholders around the world is also crucial for Weni. We value long-lasting partnerships that yield great results in various projects and initiatives. 

Way Forward

The investment received from UNICEF's Venture Fund was crucial in allowing Weni to reach the level of product and market maturity it currently has. With the transition to a stronger traction phase, Weni's main objectives are to greatly invest in research and development (mainly focused on AI), as well as communication technologies and related areas. We also aim to strengthen the Weni Culture and People Management to retain and attract more talent within our team. 

The focus on acquiring new customers and raising new investments is essential for the company to reach its long-term goals. It also ensures the continuous improvement of our product by providing more news and new strategic communication channels to the public, such as Instagram, which will be available soon. 

We will use the investment from UNICEF’s Crypto Fund to unify Weni's existing features. We will also add more features to the platform to develop a new NLP model and improve Weni's data visualization aspects to allow increased data points for extraction and native integrations. We will further test these new features with identified pilot partners in Brazil.  This unified platform will provide a solution that makes it easier for UNICEF's country/regional offices and other stakeholders to create effective solutions for advocacy, data collection, behavioral change and other applications that could benefit from a chatbot/AI platform. 

Weni has a human appeal and we aim to build real lasting relationships as it's key to our scalability and success. We remain open and available to anyone who wants to discuss how we can use communication, technology and AI to change the world for the better.