Globant's Be Kind Tech Fund invests in ping voice technology platform to help get drivers home safely

Globant, a digitally native company focused on reinventing businesses through innovative technology solutions, announced that its Be Kind Tech Fund has invested in ping, a U.S.-based voice platform company that helps enterprises eliminate distracted driving by enabling commercial drivers to hear their smartphone messages and emails read out loud in more than 105 languages, creating a safer experience for drivers, passengers, and pedestrians.

As the Be Kind Tech Fund's first investment – alongside investments from other firms – the fund has helped ping raise a $5 million joint seed round, which will enable the company to roll out its patented technology to hundreds of gig economy companies around the world. In addition to expanding ping's reach, the Be Kind Tech Fund's investment will enable the company to leverage Globant's existing network globally.

Founded in 2021, the Be Kind Tech Fund is the first and only corporate venture fund wholly focused on supporting startups that seek to mitigate the misuse of technology. Since its launch, the Be Kind Tech Fund has established partnerships with The George Washington University, as well as investors including Riverwood Capital, IDB Lab, Nazca, and entrepreneurial organizations such as Endeavor, LAVCA, and Newlab. The Center for Humane Technology also joined the Fund as an advisor. By establishing an ecosystem of like-minded organizations across influential sectors – from education to venture capital – the Be Kind Tech Fund is leading the creation of a new support system for mission-based technology startups.

Guibert Englebienne, Co-founder, Globant and President for Latam and Globant X: "ping is a perfect example of the type of startup that we had in mind when creating the Be Kind Tech Fund. We want to make sure that technology is harnessed for the benefit of society, and we admire ping's innovative use of patented voice technology to help drivers get home safely – an increasing issue as the gig economy continues to grow exponentially. We look forward to helping ping meet its goals, providing its team with expert guidance from our ecosystem, and contributing to its success."

Garin Torin, CEO, ping: "Millions of gig economy drivers are put in danger every day by the constant notifications and alerts delivered to their smartphones across a variety of apps, which contribute to distracted driving and often lead to accidents. Our goal is to keep drivers and passengers safe by eliminating distractions and helping them get home safely. The Be Kind Tech Fund's mission to prevent the misapplication of technology is perfectly aligned with the purpose of our platform, making this support from the Fund and its ecosystem especially meaningful."

According to the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), distracted driving costs the economy $129 billion per year and 11 lives per day. To help mitigate this risk, ping developed a patented Drive Mode voice platform that can integrate directly into the apps of automakers, insurers, music services, podcast platforms, and fitness apps, as well as on-board telematics and commercial fleet management software. In addition, ping can be white-labeled to create branded apps for cities, insurers, and wireless carriers. Besides reading messages out loud, ping can also coach drivers to be safer by alerting them to hard braking and acceleration, excessive lane changing, speeding, and phone handling while driving.

CameraMatics, a vehicle operations cloud platform, integrated ping's voice technology to enhance safety and help commercial and fleet drivers avoid distractions that can cause accidents.

Mervyn O'Callaghan, CEO, CameraMatics: "ping's technology unlocks a new phase of fleet safety with its proven ability to reduce distractions while still ensuring critical updates are communicated. With ping's integration into CameraMatics, we are now able to provide the most comprehensive safety solution on the market."

www.globant.com