Globant Invests in Ping Voice
Globant's Be Kind Tech Fund has invested in ping, a voice platform company that allows commercial drivers to hear their smartphone messages and emails read out loud in more than 105 languages.
The fund has helped ping raise $5 million in funding, which will enable the company to roll out its patented technology to hundreds of gig economy companies around the world.
"ping is a perfect example of the type of startup that we had in mind when creating the Be Kind Tech Fund," said Guibert Englebienne, Globant co-founder and president for Latin America and Globant X, in a statement. "We want to make sure that technology is harnessed for the benefit of society, and we admire ping's innovative use of patented voice technology to help drivers get home safely—an increasing issue as the gig economy continues to grow exponentially. We look forward to helping ping meet its goals, providing its team with expert guidance from our ecosystem, and contributing to its success."
"Millions of gig economy drivers are put in danger every day by the constant notifications and alerts delivered to their smartphones across a variety of apps, which contribute to distracted driving and often lead to accidents," said Garin Torin, CEO of ping, in a statement. "Our goal is to keep drivers and passengers safe by eliminating distractions and helping them get home safely. The Be Kind Tech Fund's mission to prevent the misapplication of technology is perfectly aligned with the purpose of our platform, making this support from the Fund and its ecosystem especially meaningful."
Ping's patented Drive Mode voice platform integrates directly into the apps of automakers, insurers, music services, podcast platforms, and fitness apps, as well as on-board telematics and commercial fleet management software. Besides reading messages out loud, ping can also coach drivers to be safer by alerting them to hard braking and acceleration, excessive lane changing, speeding, and phone handling while driving.
CameraMatics, a vehicle operations cloud platform provider, has already integrated ping's voice technology. "Ping's technology unlocks a new phase of fleet safety with its proven ability to reduce distractions while still ensuring critical updates are communicated," said Mervyn O'Callaghan, CEO of CameraMatics, in a statement. "With ping's integration into CameraMatics, we are now able to provide the most comprehensive safety solution on the market."