AI Transcription Leader Verbit Becomes a Unicorn Following $157 Million in Series D Funding
New funding brings Verbit's valuation to over $1 billion; paves path towards becoming a public company
NEW YORK, June 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Verbit, the world's largest AI-powered transcription and captioning platform, today announced it has secured $157 million in Series D funding, giving the company a unicorn valuation of over $1 billion only four years after its inception. The round was led by Sapphire Ventures, alongside new investors such as Third Point, More Capital, Omer Cygler, Azura, and ICON fund, as well as existing investors such as Stripes, Vertex Ventures and Vertex Growth, HV Capital, Oryzn Capital, Viola Ventures, and ClalTech. Verbit's total funding now exceeds $250 million, including debt financing from the Silicon Valley Bank.
Following its recent acquisition of VITAC, the largest provider of captioning products and solutions in the U.S., Verbit is the No. 1 player in the professional transcription and captioning market, supporting more than 1,500 customers across the legal, media, education, government, and corporate sectors, including CNBC, CNN, FOX, Harvard University, Stanford University, and Kaltura, among others.
With 6x year-over-year revenue growth and close to $100 million in annual recurring revenue, Verbit continues to expand into new verticals at a hyper-growth pace. This round of funding will be used to further improve and develop new products, add 200 new business and product roles, support research & development, and help prepare Verbit for a public offering.
"With their hybrid transcription platform bringing together innovative technology and a network of over 30,000 transcribers, Verbit has forged a winning combination of AI and human intelligence," said Jai Das, president and partner at Sapphire Ventures. "The company has had unparalleled growth akin to some big, well-known companies out there and we're very impressed by the team's ability to achieve a unicorn valuation in just four years. We're looking forward to continuing to be part of this exciting journey with Verbit."
Verbit aims to lead the $30 billion transcription industry and fulfill its mission to make all video and audio content accessible to everyone, everywhere, through its high-quality AI-powered captioning and transcription solutions.
"The transcription market has been ripe for innovation. That's the initial reason why I founded Verbit. The shift to remote work and accelerated digitization amid the pandemic has been a major catalyst for this $30 billion industry and has further driven Verbit's already-rapid development," said Tom Livne, CEO and Founder of Verbit. "Securing this new funding is yet another milestone that brings us closer to becoming a public company, which will further fuel our expansion through strategic acquisitions and investments."
About Verbit
Verbit provides the world's leading interactive transcription and captioning solution. It utilizes in-house, AI-based technology to transform both live and recorded video and audio into 99%+ accurate captions and transcripts for the education, legal, media, and enterprise industries. The combination of Verbit's in-house Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) technology and human transcribers offers high-quality, word-for-word, interactive and collaborative transcripts and captions. Verbit's customizable solution helps customers meet ADA, FCC, and privacy compliance requirements to increase operational capacity, accessibility and serve clients and students. The company is based in New York, San Francisco, Tel Aviv, and Kyiv and has more than 30,000 transcribers and over 350 employees globally. To learn more, visit: https://verbit.ai.
About Sapphire Ventures
Sapphire Ventures is a leading venture capital firm that partners with visionary teams and venture funds to build companies of consequence. For nearly two decades, Sapphire has been investing capital, resources and expertise in innovative startups and technology-focused venture funds around the world. With more than $6.8B in AUM across Sapphire Ventures, Sapphire Partners and Sapphire Sport, and with team members in Austin, London, Palo Alto and San Francisco, Sapphire is well-positioned to help scale companies and venture funds, elevating them to become global category leaders. To learn more about Sapphire Ventures, visit: https://sapphireventures.com.
Media Contact:
Gravitate PR for Verbit
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SOURCE Verbit
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