A developer who previously worked on Alexa has raised £17m ($19.5m) for an Unlikely AI startup.

The artificial intelligence startup company is in London and headed up by former Alexa boss William Tunstall-Pedoe - who previously served as principal project manager for Amazon’s AI voice assistant - is developing an AI called Ross along with a series of apps such as Crossword Genius.

In a statement, William told UKTN: "The entire team is very excited about the opportunity that this financing has given us to develop Unlikely AI and its technology, and we are delighted to partner with our new investors."

The funding project was co-led by Amadeus Capital and representative Amelia Armour explained that the company is "so excited" to be assisting the tech boss with his latest venture.

She said: "We’re excited to be backing William in his latest venture. Unlikely AI has the potential to disrupt many sectors and William has the knowledge and experience to build a global company of immense value."

The project is also being funded Octopus Ventures, following on from their involvement with William's web-based mobile search platform Evi.

Partner Simon King said: "Evi Technologies was one of the first investments Octopus Ventures made from our Titan fund and it gave us the opportunity to see how unique William’s knowledge and pedigree in AI are. A decade on from Evi’s success, we couldn’t be happier to be working with him again as he and his team build on another world-changing idea.""