Kenyan startup KOSA AI has raised an undisclosed pre-seed funding round to help it build its automated responsible AI systems platform.
KOSA AI, founded by Layla Li and Sonali Sanghrajka in Nairobi, enables organisations design or deploy more inclusive technology in healthcare, hiring and HR, credit and risk, and insurance.
With enterprises all over the world adopting AI solutions, one barrier to enterprise AI adoption is a lack of in-house experience in building and developing AI models, as well as managing data complexities. AI bias is one of the consequences of this, and it affects both large and small businesses.
In the results of artificial intelligence algorithms, AI bias is the manifestation of systemic prejudice and unfairness. This can be caused by improper training or real-world data used to construct the AI, as well as the conscious or subconscious prejudice of the AI developers.
KOSA AI assists businesses in detecting, auditing, and explaining bias in their AI models, as well as taking corrective action to address or minimize the bias. In addition, the startup can assist the company in monitoring their AI models after deployment for any bias.
The startup has raised a pre-seed funding round led by EchoVC Partners, with participation from APX, Dale Matthias, Fineday Ventures, TheContinent Venture Partners, and Arch Capital, in order to scale its platform.
“We view KOSA as a multi-vertical, layered approach to participating in the AI sector. Our investment thesis is centered on backing two exceptional founders, tackling a difficult – yet inevitable – problem; in a massive opportunity set,” EchoVC said in a statement.