Transcription is one of the many areas where technology has impacted the future of work. First, global outsourcing sent transcription work to countries with language proficiency and low-cost wages. Now, deep-learning technologies such as AI and natural language processing are bringing automation to the industry. Verbit is an AI-powered transcription and captioning platform that leverages natural language processing and machine learning to deliver transcription that’s faster, more accurate, and less costly than previously possible. The platform isn’t completely dependent on technology, leveraging a hybrid model with 30,000+ professional transcribers to review the accuracy of the transcriptions and captions. Verbit filters out background noises and detects vertical-specific terminology, which is useful for compliance with industry-specific regulations. The depth of the technical stack also allows for captioning live audio and video in real-time.
AlleyWatch caught up with CEO and Founder Tom Livne to learn more about how his experience as an attorney working with transcription led him to found Verbit, the company’s path towards IPO, latest round of funding, and much, much more.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
Verbit raised $250M in Series E funding, bringing its valuation to $2 billion and total funding in excess of $550M since its inception in 2017.
This round was led by a $200M investment from Third Point Ventures, with additional participation from Sapphire Ventures, More Capital, Disruptive AI, Vertex Growth, 40North, Samsung Next, and TCP.
Tell us about the product or service that Verbit offers.
Verbit is the world’s leading vertically integrated voice AI transcription and captioning platform, providing accurate, word-for-word transcripts and captions to our customers in the media, education, corporate, legal, and government sector.
Our transcription and captioning platform leverages a unique hybrid model of AI – specifically machine learning and natural language processing – and a network of over 35,000 professional transcribers and 600 captioners to achieve over 99% accuracy and a turnaround time that is ten times faster than the industry standard.
Verbit’s in-house AI technology detects domain-specific terms, filters out background noises, and echoes and transcribes speakers regardless of accent to generate detailed, professional transcripts and captions from both live and recorded video and audio.
The acoustic, linguistic and contextual data is thoroughly checked by our transcribers, who maintain quality assurance, ensure high accuracy, and guarantee rapid turnaround time by editing and reviewing the material and incorporating customer-supplied notes, guidelines, and more.
Verbit also offers Audio Description to help vision-impaired or low vision audiences and Audio-Visual Translation to serve the needs of international audiences as well as help content creators expand their reach.
What inspired the start of Verbit?
I started Verbit because I was frustrated with the low quality of transcriptions I received while working as a lawyer in my previous role. I spent a lot of time and money transcribing depositions and thought this could be done much better with the right technology. While I was looking to build a solution for the legal space specifically, I realized that this sector was just one of the many areas in which transcriptions were still being done manually – making processes inefficient, costly, and time-consuming. That’s when I saw the opportunity to enter the education, corporate, media and government sector.
How is Verbit different?
What makes Verbit’s platform so unique is that it harnesses the power of both artificial and human intelligence to provide vertical-specific transcription and captioning, building solutions that fit each industry. Our model uses Machine Learning (ML) and Natural Language Processing (NPL), as well as a network of over 35,000 hand-picked, professional transcribers to achieve over 99% accuracy with a turnaround time that is ten times faster than the industry standard.
What makes Verbit’s platform so unique is that it harnesses the power of both artificial and human intelligence to provide vertical-specific transcription and captioning, building solutions that fit each industry. Our model uses Machine Learning (ML) and Natural Language Processing (NPL), as well as a network of over 35,000 hand-picked, professional transcribers to achieve over 99% accuracy with a turnaround time that is ten times faster than the industry standard.
Since our AI is trained based on the vertical and customer at hand, our platform has the ability to build custom models that improve over time. This also means Verbit’s customers in the legal, education, media, corporate and government sectors each have access to transcripts and captions that comply with their unique, industry-specific regulations and standards, such as being HIPAA and SOC II compliant.
Additionally, our platform has a tremendous scale for any customer, meaning we can deliver integrations and a customized workflow that meets the unique needs of all businesses, regardless of their size. Overall, as the only vertically integrated voice AI platform, Verbit is a one-stop-shop for real-time, post-production, translation, and audio description.
What market does Verbit target and how big is it?
The transcription industry is a $30 billion market that has immense potential for innovative solutions like Verbit’s. The specific verticals we’re currently focused on and are the leading transcription platform in are media, education, corporate, legal, and government.
What’s your business model?
Verbit operates with a usage-based SaaS model, with the key usage metric being audio minutes. We have a fixed price per audio minute transcribed, and customers are able to choose different options and plans and can for example pay for a fixed amount of minutes they want to transcribe over a specific time period. Depending on the vertical and unique business needs, customers can opt for a pay per page or pay per minute plan.
Verbit operates with a usage-based SaaS model, with the key usage metric being audio minutes. We have a fixed price per audio minute transcribed, and customers are able to choose different options and plans and can for example pay for a fixed amount of minutes they want to transcribe over a specific time period. Depending on the vertical and unique business needs, customers can opt for a pay per page or pay per minute plan.
What are your post-COVID office plans??
Verbit now employs 470 people globally, with a mix of staff working remotely or reporting to one of our offices in Tel Aviv, New York, San Francisco, Kyiv, Pittsburgh, and Colorado.
What was the funding process like?
It was a very positive experience and I always enjoy speaking with investors and hearing their insights and feedback. I was also happy to be able to travel to the U.S. to meet with investors there in person. We’ve received a lot of interest from various investors for this round and it’s been extremely motivating and encouraging as we continue on our path towards an IPO.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
There haven’t been many challenges since Verbit had already shown strong and rapid growth over the last year, and investors saw the immense potential in our solution and ability to modernize and lead the $30 billion transcription market.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
With strong 6x year-over-year revenue growth and over $100 million in annual recurring revenue, we continue to grow at a rapid pace and have proven that our solution has immense potential. We’re also very cash efficient and have a high customer retention rate of 163%, which are important metrics of success for investors. Those strong numbers combined with our unique solution that brings together both AI and human intelligence, has led to a lot of interest from investors.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
With this investment, Verbit will increase investment in product development and continue the company’s vertical and geographical expansion. In addition, we plan to double down on our acquisition strategy.
With this investment, Verbit will increase investment in product development and continue the company’s vertical and geographical expansion. In addition, we plan to double down on our acquisition strategy.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Apart from setting clearly-defined goals, you have to surround yourself with a team of experts you can trust to help bring your vision to life.
Companies must also prioritize leading with passion and purpose. In order to truly connect with an issue, you must be dedicated to the cause. In my case, beyond being driven to grant accessibility for all, I am motivated to continue creating transcriber jobs for third-world countries.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
The goal is to continue our accelerated growth, and we will continue to make decisions that fuel the company to be a great partner to our customers and a great asset to our investors. Series E is a step closer to our planned IPO in the near future.
What’s your favorite outdoor dining restaurant in NYC
Nobu.
