Deepgram Raises $130M at $1.3B Valuation and Expands Voice AI Reach
Voice AI adoption across sales, marketing, customer support, and consumer applications has surged in recent years. As a result, model providers have attracted growing business and investor attention. Riding this wave, Deepgram today announced a $130 million Series C funding round led by AVP, bringing the company’s valuation to $1.3 billion.
Existing investors, including Alkeon, In-Q-Tel, Madrona, Tiger, Wing, and Y Combinator, also participated in the round, while new backers such as Alumni Ventures, Columbia University, Princeville Capital, Twilio, and SAP joined in. With this round, Deepgram has raised over $215 million to date.
This investment continues the trend of major voice AI funding seen last year, including Sesame’s $250 million Series B, ElevenLab’s $180 million Series C, and Gradium’s $70 million seed round.
Voice AI Gains Traction with Enterprises
Elizabeth de Saint-Aignan, a partner at AVP, told TechCrunch that voice AI came up frequently in conversations with enterprises exploring AI applications.
“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 developments. 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],” she explained.
De Saint-Aignan highlighted that voice AI can improve customer interactions while lowering costs for businesses, and Deepgram is positioned to play a key role.
Deepgram’s Technology and Client Base
Deepgram offers a suite of models for text-to-speech, speech-to-text, and platforms for conversational speech recognition and interruption handling with low latency. Its technology is used by over 1,300 organizations, including meeting notetaker Granola, voice agent startup Vapi, and Twilio.
CEO Scott Stephenson emphasized that the company did not need to raise funds, as it was cashflow positive last year.
“In the last year, voice AI has gone mainstream, and there is more potential pull. We see that we can make larger investment sooner in order to accelerate growth. And that is why we felt it could be a good time to raise,” Stephenson said.
“We weren’t out looking for a raise, though. We had multiple people coming to us. We wanted strategic investors who understand voice AI and the technical intricacies of it and have relationships with companies building using the technology.”
Expansion Plans and Focus on Restaurants
The newly raised funds will support Deepgram’s global expansion and multi-language capabilities, as well as growth in the restaurant sector. To this end, Deepgram acquired OfOne, a YC-backed startup offering a voice AI-powered ordering system for quick-service restaurants, boasting over 93% order accuracy.
Voice AI adoption in restaurants has faced hurdles; last year, Taco Bell ended a voice ordering experiment after a customer ordered 18,000 water cups.
“I am excited about this [voice AI-driven food ordering] because food ordering might be the first positive interaction more than 300 million Americans have with voice AI. There have been a lot of sour interactions with voice AI over the last 20 years… But when you can order your food using natural conversation, people would think the technology is ready,” Stephenson noted.
Investor interest in the sector is evident, with OfOne’s acquisition following Presto’s $10 million funding, a company serving brands like Carl’s Jr.
Market Outlook for Voice AI
Analysts predict that the voice AI market will grow at over 30% year-over-year, reaching a $14–$20 billion market by 2030. With such growth, providers of voice AI models and APIs are poised to become multibillion-dollar players, serving as essential infrastructure for enterprises and startups developing voice solutions.
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