ObEN Inc., a Pasadena startup that builds virtual avatars powered by artificial intelligence, announced today that it has raised $10 million in funding from Hong Kong’s K11 Art Foundation.

Combined with previous investments from Tencent, Softbank, HTC and others, this brings the startup’s total funding to date to more than $23.7 million.

Founded in 2014, ObEN combines AI, 3D scanning and 3D animation to create virtual copies of real people for hospitality, retail, real estate and other industries. Using bitcoin’s blockchain technology, ObEN’s Personal AI, or PAI, platform allows individuals and businesses to easily create and distribute their AI avatars without worrying that they can be copied and impersonated by someone else.

According to the startup, its avatars can look, sound and act like the people after whom they are modeled, allowing the AI to act on their behalf as personal shoppers, concierges and more. Celebrities can also use ObEN’s avatars to give their fans a more personal interactive experience without the logistics and risks involved with real public appearances.

Nikhil Jain (pictured), co-founder and chief executive of ObEN, said in a statement that businesses can use PAI avatars to “enhance the consumer experience,” giving customers the up-to-date, personalized assistance that would normally require a human concierge. Jain added that the funding announced today will allow the startup to expand its reach to more customers.

ObEN’s new funding comes from K11, a nonprofit organization created by entrepreneur Adrian Cheng that promotes contemporary Chinese art and helps incubate projects “for professional practices of promising young curators.” He said today that ObEN’s PAI platform “simplifies the implementation of artificial intelligence technologies for real life applications.” K11 plans to localize ObEN’s platform and will implement PAI avatars at all of its projects, which includes its K11 Art Malls in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

ObEN said its PAI platform will be more widely available early this year.

Photo: ObEN