Synthetic speech technology startup Murf AI raises $10M led by Matrix Partners India

Murf AI, a synthetic speech technology startup that helps businesses simplify the process of creating natural-sounding voiceovers using AI, has raised $10 million in a series A funding round led by Matrix Partners India.

The round also saw participation from existing investor Elevation Capital and prominent angel investors such as Ajay Arora (SVP Product, Disney Streaming), Ankit Bhati (Founder, Ola), Ashwini Asokan (Founder, Mad Street Den), Pushkar Mukewar (Founder, Drip Capital), and Yamini Bhat (Founder, Vymo).

The startup intends to use the raised capital to drive further product innovation, accelerate R&D, and scale its presence in focused geographies.

Founded in October 2020 by IIT-Kharagpur graduates Sneha Roy, Ankur Edkie, and Divyanshu Pandey, Murf said it provides an AI-enabled SaaS tool that allows users to generate "human-like" voiceovers for videos and presentations—without the need for complex recording equipment or hiring a voice artist.

The startup caters voice for every creator across all industries such as educators, authors, podcasters, animators, product developers, YouTubers, freelancers, and corporate coaches.

Previously, the startup had raised $1.5 million in a Seed funding round in May 2021, led by Elevation Capital and a few angel investors. Since then, Murf claims to have grown 22x in ARR and synthesised 1 million+ voiceover projects.

"Synthetic media is poised to become omnipresent in the near future and voice is at the core of it. At Murf, we continue to make advances in our speech technology to bring the diverse abilities of talented voice actors at our customers' fingertips through AI," said Ankur Edkie, Co-Founder and CEO of Murf AI.

Murf said its AI engine has been trained on hours of actual human speech to produce high-fidelity synthetic AI voices that mimic nuances and subtleties, including the human voice's likeness, style, and uniqueness.

The platform has a library of over 120 human-parity AI voices offered by Murf Studio across 20+ languages.

The startup said it is also working towards bridging the diversity gap in traditional text-to-speech platforms by ensuring the inclusion of voices across varied accents like African American, British, and Australian English.

"AI-driven, life-like voiceovers are the next frontier in the text-to-speech market. Murf, with their stellar founding team and unique IP, is perfectly poised to gain a leadership position in this space. Their execution prowess and tech-first focus is evident in the solid traction and growth that they've demonstrated so far. We are really excited to double down on our partnership with Murf," said Mukul Arora, Co-Managing Partner, Elevation Capital.

"Creating voiceovers is hard, and Murf’s unique IP makes it easy for every individual to create emotional and theatrical voices—faster, better, and cheaper. With phenomenal customer love and international traction, Murf is an early category leader and we’re excited to partner with Ankur, Sneha, and Divyanshu on their next phase of growth,” added Pranay Desai, Principal, Matrix India.

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