Deepgram Raises $130M at $1.3B Valuation, Acquires YC-Backed AI Startup
Voice AI use in sales, marketing, customer support, and consumer apps has surged in recent years.
As a result, more model providers have attracted both enterprise demand and investor attention.
Against this backdrop, Deepgram raised $130 million in a Series C round led by AVP at a $1.3 billion valuation.
Moreover, existing investors Alkeon, In-Q-Tel, Madrona, Tiger, Wing, and Y Combinator also joined with additional funding.
At the same time, new investors including Alumni Ventures, Columbia University, Princeville Capital, Twilio, and SAP participated.
Overall, the company has now raised more than $215 million to date.
Funding surge reflects growing voice AI market
Notably, the raise follows other major voice AI funding rounds last year.
For example, Sesame raised $250 million in Series B, ElevenLab raised $180 million in Series C, and Gradium secured a $70 million seed round.
Meanwhile, the latest round signals how voice AI continues gaining traction among enterprise buyers.
Product adoption expands across industries
Deepgram offers text-to-speech and speech-to-text models, plus platforms and APIs for conversational speech recognition and interruption handling with low latency.
In addition, the company said more than 1,300 organizations use its products and models.
For example, it listed meeting notetaker Granola, voice agent startup Vapi, and Twilio among users.
New funding supports global growth and restaurant focus
Next, the company plans to expand globally and strengthen support for multiple languages.
Additionally, it is targeting restaurants through voice AI, so it acquired YC-backed OfOne, which built a voice AI solution for quick-service restaurants.
The startup claims more than 93% accuracy for receiving orders.
However, voice AI ordering has faced challenges, and Taco Bell ended an experiment after a customer ordered 18,000 water cups.
Meanwhile, investor interest remains strong, especially after Presto raised $10 million in new funding.
Finally, analysts expect the voice market to grow more than 30% year over year and reach $14–$20 billion by 2030.
