UK-based voice AI startup Neuphonic secures €3.5M to build world’s fastest text-to-speech tech

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London-based Neuphonic, a startup focused on redefining human-AI communication with fast text-to-speech technology, has raised £3M (approximately €3.58M) in its pre-seed round of funding. 

The investment was led by Moonfire VC, with participation from Tiny VC, Salica Oryx Fund, and Cur8 Capital.

Akshat Goenka, Partner at Moonfire, says, “Voice AI has been a sleeping giant, held back by technical limitations that Neuphonic is now solving. Their technology has the potential to unlock significant value across multiple industries.”

“In customer service, it could enable more natural, efficient interactions. For content creators, it opens up new possibilities in localisation and accessibility. In emerging fields like digital avatars and AI gaming, it could be the key to creating truly immersive experiences.”

“We see Neuphonic’s solution as a catalyst for innovation in these sectors and beyond, potentially unlocking billions in economic value. They could ultimately enable entirely new business models and user experiences that weren’t possible before.”

Enabling real-time conversational AI with TTS latency under 25ms

Neuphonic is addressing the limitations of traditional Conversational AI by offering a text-to-speech algorithm (patent-pending) that enables real-time speech generation with ultra-low latency of 25 milliseconds, making it the fastest in the world. 

The technology allows for more natural, human-like communication and is compatible with any Large Language Model, regardless of language. Neuphonic’s API is currently available through an exclusive closed beta programme for businesses looking to integrate human-like speech into their products.

Sohaib Ahmad, co-founder and CEO of Neuphonic, says, “High latency in Voice AI prevents natural interaction and slows growth in key fields like gaming, conversational AI, digital avatars, and real-time translation. People are struggling to really interact with Voice AI as a result.”

“We want to reach a point where AI feels like a natural extension of ourselves – intuitive and effortless. Ideally, people then spend less time staring at screens and more time actually communicating.”

Founded by Jiameng Gao and Sohaib Ahmad, Neuphonic emerged from the duo’s shared experience studying machine learning at Cambridge University. 

With multilingual backgrounds and roots in China, Ireland, and Pakistan, Gao and Ahmad were inspired by their insights into language barriers and cultural nuances to develop Neuphonic.

They aim to tackle the limitations of current text-to-speech solutions, driven by a passion for voice technology.

Co-founder and CTO Gao, says, “By generating speech word-by-word as text arrives, we unlock a wide range of use cases for Text-To-Speech that wasn’t possible before – we’re in talks with businesses in customer service, digital reception, humanoid robotics, ed-tech, storytelling, and content creation.”

“This goes beyond speed improvements and allows us to create AI interactions that feel as natural and responsive as human conversation. Just as how people speak immediately, our models bypass the need for full sentences and in doing so significantly cut down latency.”

Capital utilisation

Neuphonic plans to use the funds to expand its language capabilities and voice offerings, improve model performance through research, and develop on-device solutions.

Professor Steve Young CBE, Emeritus Professor of Information Engineering and former Senior Pro-Vice Chancellor of Cambridge University, says, “Neuphonic’s breakthrough in real-time speech synthesis will create a paradigm shift in human-machine interaction.”

“By reducing latency to near-human levels, they are paving the way for seamless voice interaction that could replace screens in many aspects of our daily lives.”

With a growing team and a waiting list of hundreds of potential users and businesses, Neuphonic aims for rapid growth in the voice AI market, which is projected to reach $41.39B by 2030.

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Vishal Singh

Vishal Singh is a News Reporter and Social Media Marketing Lead at Silicon Canals. He covers developments in the European startup ecosystem and oversees the publication's social media presence. Before joining Silicon Canals, Vishal gained experience at the Indian digital media outlet Inc42, contributing to its growth with insightful content. Despite being a college dropout, his passion for writing has driven his career in journalism.

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