Multilingual transcription and captioning company Verbit has just outraised every translation and localization company out there (according to Slator’s M&A and Funding research) in its latest financing round. And, with a planned IPO on the horizon, it will be interesting to see if the startup will be able to maintain its current Super Agency valuation level.
On November 23, 2021, Verbit announced that it had raised USD 250m in a series E round, which valued the company at USD 2bn. Less than six months have passed since the Palo Alto-based startup closed its unicorn-making series D worth USD 157m.
Leading the series E was Third Point Ventures, which also participated in the previous round. The Silicon Valley-bred, Menlo Park-based VC contributed USD 200m, with series D-leader Sapphire Ventures, as well as More Capital, Disruptive AI, Vertex Growth, 40North, Samsung Next, and TCP, making up the balance.
This latest round brings the startup’s total funds raised over the USD 550m mark.
Verbit CEO, Tom Livne, spoke at SlatorCon Remote in September 2021. Check out the recap and get access to the video here.
Verbit was founded in 2017 by CEO Tom Livne, who told Slator back in 2019 how the idea for the company was born: “Before I found myself in the world of tech startups, I began my career in law, where transcripts are essential. I was often unsatisfied with the slow turnaround time for a finished transcript […] Verbit’s solution is able to help tackle the court reporter shortage and provide companies with the technology to make reporters more efficient to cover all jobs.”
The transcription unicorn has since evolved into an expert-in-the-loop transcription platform, powered by proprietary transcription and captioning tech solutions, 12 of which are patented. According to Livne, Verbit’s speech recognition team comprises “PhDs and other top experts,” who primarily focus on speech tech R&D.
Asked after Verbit’s series C where their offer sits in the AI-driven tech map (populated by the likes of Descript and Otter.ai), Livne told Slator, “While our competitors invest in speech recognition technology, at Verbit we focus on taking this technology and developing it to fit our clients’ precise needs.”
Verbit plans to pursue an IPO in 2022 on either the Nasdaq or in New York.