Ex-Unbabel founder Vasco Pedro launches AI agents startup Spinnable

The former founder of machine assisted automated translation company Unbabel, Vasco Pedro, has developed a platform for the creation of AI agents that entrepreneurs can ‘recruit’.

The idea is that the startup can help companies to hire ‘AI workers’ that grow their businesses, that ‘feel like’ teamworkers, that follow up on slack, answer to customers, reply in threads, reach out to customers, keep tools up to date, manage calendars, draft roadmaps, research industries, and understand spreadsheets.

Basically, human-like AI that can do what humans do but at many times the speed and even have a personality.

For 10 years Vasco Pedro was the face of Unbabel until he sold it to the US translation company TransPerfect.

Now the entrepreneur has returned to Portugal and this week launches his new startup Spinnable where companies can recruit AI staff.

“Large companies now have a lot of resources allocated to artificial intelligence, but small companies are left behind because it is difficult for a company with 5 or 6 people.

“A property refurbishment company is focused on its business and doesn’t have a lot of resources to hire AI proficient staff to create AI agents, so they lose competitiveness”, says Vasco Pedro.

“We can help companies (like these) to scale their businesses that are small at the moment but don’t have to be; it’s a question of lack of staff.

“What we’re saying is that business success should not depend on the number of people that you can hire”, he explains.

The startup, that wants to change the way in which people work with AI, has 15 staff but 10 are not human.

Among the humans are Gil Coelho (ex-head of product of Unbabel), and Fábio Kepler (former AI research director at Unbabel.

The idea is to make conversations between humans and technology more human and the startup has already managed to raise around €2 million in a pre-seed round headed by HeartCore, Florent.vc and Alphagraph.