This funding brings Aya Data’s total investment to $1.15 million, following a previous raise of $255,000 from investors such as Microtraction, Savannah Fund, and Scott Bell.

The company, founded in 2021 by Freddie Monk and Larbi-Siaw, specializes in data collection and annotation services, which are critical for the development of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Gemini.

With this fresh funding, Aya Data plans to expand its two flagship products: AyaGrow, an AI-powered precision agriculture tool, and AyaSpeech, a speech-to-speech solution enabling communication in local African languages.

Aya Data’s funding round consists of a mix of equity and debt, and part of the investment will be used to hire new talent to enhance its workforce.

The startup has already gained global recognition, working with notable clients such as MIT, Nvidia, Seedtag, and Unilever.

Aya Data reported $500,000 in revenue in 2023, attributed to its growing client base and expanding service offerings.

AyaGrow aims to assist smallholder and commercial farmers by providing AI-powered monitoring for crops and fields, while AyaSpeech offers businesses and governments the ability to interact with citizens using local languages.

Aya Data’s innovative approach is placing it at the forefront of Africa’s AI ecosystem, addressing key challenges in sectors like agriculture and communication.

Co-founder and COO, Larbi-Siaw, emphasized the company’s mission:

“We are dedicated to building local expertise that can leverage AI to tackle the continent’s most pressing challenges.”

According to Marketing and Strategy Officer Gillian Hammah, the startup is focused on helping African businesses adopt AI technologies to boost their competitiveness.

Hammah highlighted Aya Data’s commitment to supporting local enterprises while continuing to collaborate with international partners.