Wichita Based KNOXX Building a Soft Skill AI Engine for Human Resources

KNOXX, LLC a Wichita based technology company has filed a Form D regarding a new financing round. The company, which raised $300,000 in 2017 to validate the company’s prototype product, is using the new round to take the customer discovery from the prototype phase to build a better Alyss. Alyss is the company’s proprietary video…

KNOXX, LLC a Wichita based technology company has filed a Form D regarding a new financing round. The company, which raised $300,000 in 2017 to validate the company’s prototype product, is using the new round to take the customer discovery from the prototype phase to build a better Alyss. Alyss is the company’s proprietary video and audio analytics software.

We recently caught up with Mike Mathia of KNOXX to ask him about his company, and how his company was progressing. Mr. Mathia noted his twenty years as a human resource executive and recruiter and how the market had shifted for many job seekers to online platforms.  The problem with these platforms is that they do not allow the job seekers soft skills and charisma to shine.

This is the genesis of the Alyss Analytics engine. Alyss uses video and audio submissions of individuals (candidates and current employees) to arm recruiters and human resource professionals with meaningful soft skill and human analytics information about those individuals or an existing workforce.

Specifically, Alyss is able to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to build a soft skill profile of individuals based on their submissions. These soft skill profiles can not only be used to help identify best fit candidates by employers, but they can also be used by both recruiters and job seekers to improve an individual’s soft skills.

As Mathia said, “If an individual recognizes a deficiency in their soft skills, they are empowered to improve that soft skill as part of their portfolio.”

The prototype process consisted primarily of working with candidates and companies in Wichita. Mathia said that 3000 candidates and 150 companies from the region had used KNOXX. These folks were instrumental in building and shaping the new product.

Beyond this close tie to Wichita because of his customers, Mathia described an entrepreneurial community that was coming into its own. “Good things are happening in Wichita!” he said. Specifically, he referenced the significant angel support that he has received in Wichita, and the role of e2e, the local accelerator, in challenging and strengthening his business model.

However, Mathia also described his belief that the broader region was important to growing  Alyss. He knows that finding outside customers will be critical for his company to succeed, and that is part of why he has sought outside capital and advice. One way that Alyss did this was by participating (and winning) the pitch competition at the i/o summit held in Lincoln during the Summer of 2018.

KNOXX is one of the bright spots in Wichita and it appears that it will soon be shining on the entire Silicon Prairie.

For more information, check out their website at www.AlyssAnalytics.com.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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