There is an implicit assumption in most analytics solutions: The data analyzed and the insights derived, are almost exclusively quantitative. That is, they refer to numerical data, such as number of customers, sales and so on.

But when it comes to customer feedback, perhaps the most important data is qualitative: text contained in sources such as feedback forms and surveys, tickets, chat and email messages. The problem with that data is that, while valuable, they require domain experts and a lot of time to read through and classify. Or, at least, that was the case up to now.

This is the problem Viable is looking to address. Viable, touting itself as the only qualitative AI company to provide natural language querying of customer feedback, announced today the closing of a $5 million fundraise primarily for growth, R&D and new hires.

Viable’s CEO and cofounder, Dan Erickson, detailed the company’s origins, differentiators and its qualitative approach to customer feedback with VentureBeat.

Erickson, an engineer by trade, cofounded Viable with his identical twin brother Jeff, who is a designer. Both have been in the tech industry for about 15 years, having skipped college to go straight into business early on.

Read the full article on VentureBeat