Doodle acquires chatbot appointment finder Meekan
Doodle acquires the Israeli start-up Meekan. Meekan's chatbot supports users as a virtual assistant in finding appointments. Thanks to artificial intelligence, Meekan is capable of learning and adapts to users' needs and habits.
The online appointment planner Doodle is acquiring all shares in the Tel Aviv-based start-up Meekan with immediate effect. The sellers are the founders Lior Yavor, Eyal Yavor and Matty Marianksy and the investor Horizons Ventures. Meekan, a chatbot controlled by artificial intelligence, supports users as a virtual assistant in finding appointments. After a request, Meekan automatically compares the appointment calendars of all persons within a group chat within seconds and makes prioritized appointment suggestions. The chatbot is capable of learning and knows the previous preferences and habits of its users in order to optimally plan or adjust appointments. Meekan is 100 percent powered by artificial intelligence, completely without human support in the background - so far unique in this industry.
"A next leap in development for Doodle".
"The integration of Meekan allows Doodle to take the next leap in development. The Meekan chatbot, as an intelligent virtual assistant, makes it possible to find appointments quickly without having to look at one's own calendar - a system with great potential, " explains Christoph Brand, Head of Digital at the Swiss media group Tamedia, to which Doodle belongs.
Founders Lior Yavor, Eyal Yavor and Matty Marianksy will remain on the Doodle management team responsible for the development of Meekan. Lior Yavor, CEO of Meekan: "We are very excited to work with Doodle, an internationally strong brand with more than 26 million monthly users worldwide. With the chatbot feature and further developments, Doodle will continue to be the first choice for scheduling, both for personal use and for use within companies. "
Meekan was founded in Israel in 2013 by Lior Yavor, Eyal Yavor and Matty Marianksy and has so far been backed by Hong Kong-based venture capital investor Horizons Ventures. The appointment finder Meekan is already used as an assistant in the instant messaging applications of Slack and Hipchat.
