**Voice AI Just Got a Whole Lot Louder: Deepgram Scores $130M in Series C Funding**
The voice AI space is officially on fire. We’re seeing a surge in demand, investor interest, and some serious cash flowing into the tech. The latest example is Deepgram, which just raised a whopping $130 million in a Series C round led by AVP, valuing the company at a staggering $1.3 billion.
So, who’s behind the hype? Well, existing investors Alkeon, In-Q-Tel, Madrona, Tiger, Wing, and Y Combinator, as well as new investors Alumni Ventures, Columbia University, Princeville Capital, Twilio, and SAP, all jumped on board. This brings Deepgram’s total funding to over $215 million.
This funding round is just the latest in a string of sizeable investments in voice AI. We saw Sesame snag $250 million in its Series B last year, ElevenLab secure $180 million in its Series C, and Gradium pull in $70 million in its seed round.
Elizabeth de Saint-Aignan, a partner at AVP, said the fund was “very excited” to invest in Deepgram. They stumbled upon the company while digging into the voice AI space and were impressed by its capabilities. “When we were discussing AI with enterprises, voice AI kept popping up,” she said in a statement to TechCrunch. “We found Deepgram to be a central player in the space.”
So, what makes voice AI so special? For starters, it has the potential to make interactions with enterprises more pleasant and efficient, while reducing costs for companies. Deepgram is working on all sorts of voice AI solutions, including text-to-speech and speech-to-text models, as well as platforms and APIs for conversational speech recognition and interruption handling with low latency. And the numbers are impressive: over 1,300 organizations are already using Deepgram’s voice AI products and models.
But what’s really interesting is where the company is heading next. Deepgram’s CEO, Scott Stephenson, revealed that the company didn’t need the funding and was actually cash flow positive last year. However, he wants to use the funds to accelerate growth and expand its global footprint. One area they’re focusing on is the restaurant industry, where voice AI has had its share of challenges. For example, Taco Bell recently pulled its voice AI experiment after a customer ordered 18,000 water cups (yikes!).
However, Stephenson is optimistic about the potential of voice AI in food ordering, citing the millions of people who will interact with voice AI daily. “Food ordering can be the first positive interaction over 300 million Americans have with voice AI,” he said. “There have been a lot of bitter interactions with voice AI over the last 20 years… But when you can order your food using natural conversation, people will think the technology is ready.”
And speaking of natural conversation, Deepgram just acquired Ofone, a Y-Combinator-backed startup that developed a voice AI-powered solution for fast-service restaurants. The solution claims to have a whopping 93% accuracy in receiving orders.
The interest in voice AI is clear, with Ofone’s acquisition news coming on the heels of Presto’s $10 million funding round. Analysts are forecasting the voice market will grow at over 30% year-over-year and become a $14-$20 billion market by 2030. With such growth, it’s no surprise that model and API suppliers like Deepgram are aiming to become multibillion-dollar companies.
