Sherpa (also known as Sherpa.ai) is a Spanish
artificial intelligence company specializing in predictive conversational digital assistants. It was founded by Xabi Uribe-Etxebarria in 2012 and is based in
Erandio and
Silicon Valley. In 2018,
Fortune magazine included Sherpa in its ranking of the 100 best artificial intelligence companies.[1][2]
Trajectory
The company was created in 2012 with the conviction to develop a predictive conversational digital assistant based on artificial intelligence algorithms for different companies and to provide consultancy in artificial intelligence. They are based in Erandio (
Vizcaya, Spain) and Silicon Valley (California, United States), and are a
ISO/IEC 27001 certified company.[3]
In 2016, they obtained $6.5 million in a round of funding from Mundi Ventures and other private investors.[3][4][5] In a second round in 2019, they obtained $8.5 million;[6] and in 2021, they secured an additional $8.5 million in funding from Mundi Ventures, Ekarpen, Marcelo Gigliani of Apax Digital, and
Alex Cruz of
British Airways.[7]
Products
Sherpa's first product was a
mobile phone application of the same name. Their products are predictive conversational digital assistants that learn from the user's context to anticipate their needs. Sherpa uses 100,000 parameters from each user to answer requests.[8][5] Additionally, they have developed a multi-purpose recommendation system for news, music, and filtering important emails.[9][10]
Among their products are free applications for
smartphones and tablets such as Sherpa Assistant and Sherpa News which have garnered over 3 million downloads. Sherpa also came pre-installed on
Samsung smartphones as the default digital assistant, until Samsung Electronics launched
Bixby.[11][12][13]
Focused on
business services, their AI assistants and
operating systems are embedded in cars, smartphones, home speakers, and appliances.[14] Sherpa also has agreements with companies such as Porsche and Samsung.[12][13]
Work team
By 2018, Sherpa had 35 employees, most of whom were experts in artificial intelligence and many with PhDs in mathematics and other disciplines.[13] According to the publication Innova Spain, Sherpa works with researchers and research centers at the
University of Granada,
Deusto, the
University of the Basque Country and
Mondragón.[15][16] Some of their advisors include
Alex Cruz, president and CEO of British Airways, and
Chris Shipley, who was considered the most influential woman in Silicon Valley according to the
San Jose Business Journal.[17][18][19]
Tom Gruber, co-founder and former
CTO of
Siri, joined Sherpa's working group in 2019. One year later,
Joanna Hoffman, Steve Jobs' right-hand woman, joined as an advisor.[20][21][22]