Deepgram raises $130M at $1.3B valuation and buys a YC AI startup | TechCrunch

"Usage of voice AI in sales, marketing, customer support, and consumer applications has shot up in the last few years. As a result, model providers have seen increased business, along with investor interest. On the back of this demand, today, Deepgram said that it has raised $130 million in a Series C round led by AVP at a $1.3 billion dollar valuation."

"In 2024, when we were talking to enterprises about how they were thinking about using AI inside their business, we started to hear about them using voice AI in processes like contact centers and sales development. When we chatted with them more, we realized a lot of voice AI tech was powered by Deepgram, and that's what led us to them [Deepgram]," Saint-Aignan said."

"She noted that voice AI could help in making customers' interactions with enterprises more pleasant while reducing costs for companies, and Deepgram could play a central part in it. Deepgram has a bunch of models related to text-to-speech and speech-to-text, along with platforms and APIs for conversational speech recognition and interruption handling with low latency. It noted that more than 1,300 organizations use its voice AI products and models, including meeting notetaker Granola, voice agent startup Vapi, and Twilio."

Usage of voice AI in sales, marketing, customer support, and consumer applications has increased significantly. Deepgram raised $130 million in a Series C led by AVP at a $1.3 billion valuation. Existing investors including Alkeon, In-Q-Tel, Madrona, Tiger, Wing, and Y Combinator participated, while new investors Alumni Ventures, Columbia University, Princeville Capital, Twilio, and SAP also joined. The company has raised over $215 million to date. The raise follows other large voice AI financings such as Seasame's $250 million Series B, ElevenLab's $180 million Series C, and Gradium's $70 million seed. Enterprises are adopting voice AI in contact centers and sales development, often powered by Deepgram. Voice AI can improve customer interactions and reduce costs for companies. Deepgram offers text-to-speech and speech-to-text models, conversational recognition platforms and low-latency APIs, and serves more than 1,300 organizations including Granola, Vapi, and Twilio.

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