PayPal Ventures has co-led a $30 million Series C funding round for the generative conversational AI platform Rasa.

StepStone Group co-led the round, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Accel, and Basis Set Ventures.

Rasa powers AI assistants for a host of major firms, including two of the world's top three banks and several insurers.

The investment is the first for PayPal Venture's new AI fund. Funding will be used to make hires in North America and Europe in marketing, sales, engineering and customer success.

Alan Du, PayPal Ventures partner, says: “We believe Rasa offers a best-in-class platform for enterprises to develop robust, conversational AI, and we have seen how its concierge solutions improve customer engagement and business performance.”

Last month, PayPal unveiled a host of new AI-driven features for the new year designed to drive personalisation for both merchants and consumers.