Deepgram is an artificial intelligence company based in the United States, specializing in developing speech recognition and audio intelligence technologies. Founded in 2015 by Scott Stephenson and Adam Sypniewski, Deepgram operates in areas such as extracting meaning from audio data, speech-to-text conversion, text-to-speech conversion, and creating voice AI agents. The company's technology focuses particularly on real-time and low-latency applications optimized for enterprise use.
Establishment
Deepgram was founded on August 18, 2015. Co-founders Scott Stephenson and Adam Sypniewski previously conducted research on analyzing sound waves while conducting physical experiments on dark matter at the University of Michigan. These studies later formed the basis for the idea of analyzing speech data through artificial intelligence. Deepgram received investment from Y Combinator in 2016, secured its first customers in 2017, followed by a $12 million Series A investment in 2019 and a $25 million Series B investment in 2020. In 2022, it attracted an additional $72 million investment in addition to the Series B round.
Products and Technologies
Deepgram develops end-to-end deep learning architecture-driven audio technologies. The company's core product portfolio is built on four main APIs: speech-to-text, text-to-speech, audio intelligence, and voice agent API. These products have a wide range of uses, from enterprise call centers to medical transcriptions, and from podcasts to virtual assistants.
The Nova-3 model used in the speech-to-text domain aims to provide fast, accurate, and cost-effective transcription by supporting over 30 languages. The model has been developed to achieve high accuracy rates in noisy environments and multi-speaker scenarios.
On the text-to-speech side, the Aura-2 model operates with a latency of less than 200 milliseconds for real-time conversations and offers suitability for numerous industries with professional, natural voices. Aura-2 was developed with domain-based speech synthesis technology to accurately pronounce terms specific to fields such as healthcare, finance, and law.
Aura 2 (Deepgram)
The Audio Intelligence component performs functions such as summarization, topic detection, intent recognition, and sentiment analysis, allowing for more meaning to be extracted from audio data. These features are used in areas such as call center analytics, customer experience management, and content moderation.
The Voice Agent API is a unified speech-to-speech platform that enables voice agents to interact with human-like response times and natural conversational flow. This structure works in conjunction with large language models to enable AI-powered voice assistants to make real-time decisions and adapt to interruptions within conversations.
Use Cases
Deepgram technologies are widely used, especially in customer service, call center management, media, and healthcare sectors. The company's solutions can be integrated with various technology providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Twilio, Vonage, AudioCodes, Daily, Cognigy, and Vercel.
The Nova-3 Medical model, used in the medical field, offers a special speech-to-text solution developed with sensitivity to healthcare terminology, ensuring the privacy of patient information within the framework of HIPAA compliance.
Audio transcription services provided for podcast and video content creators contribute to accessibility and search engine optimization through functions such as subtitle generation, content summarization, and sentiment analysis.
Corporate Structure and Location
Deepgram operates with a remote work structure, headquartered in San Francisco, California, with employees in many states across the US and in more than five countries worldwide. The company's senior management team includes Scott Stephenson (CEO), Adam Sypniewski (CTO), Shadi Baqleh (COO), Anoop Dawar (CSO), Praveen Rangnath (CMO), and Natalie Rutgers (Product Director).
Pricing Policy
Deepgram offers three main pricing plans to support flexible usage scenarios: a pay-as-you-go model, an annual pre-paid growth plan, and an enterprise subscription. All plans provide access to speech-to-text, text-to-speech, audio intelligence, and voice agent APIs.
The Pay As You Go model is an option offered initially with free credit, requiring no credit card, and structured with certain concurrency limits. It is suitable for small-scale projects, testing processes, and new users.
The Growth Plan is a model based on annual pre-paid credit purchases. Under this plan, users can benefit from discounted prices based on usage volume in exchange for their annual commitment. This plan is aimed at mid-sized businesses developing scalable applications.
The Enterprise Plan caters to organizations with high-volume data processing, custom model training, private deployment options, dedicated support services, and advanced security needs. It includes enterprise-level customization and integration capabilities.
Deepgram's pricing policy is shaped by the features used (e.g., intelligent formatting, speaker diarization, sentiment analysis), data processing time, and character count. Advanced features can be included in the plan as additional modules. All plans offer access to community support and developer documentation. Volume-based discounts are also provided for high-volume usage scenarios.
Future Vision
Deepgram believes that voice is a fundamental data source in the age of artificial intelligence and therefore operates with the vision of being "the human language company." The company's strategic priorities include developing a comprehensive model architecture for real-time voice AI applications, expanding global language support, and continuing research in natural language processing. Deepgram aims to grow in the enterprise market, especially with domain-focused, real-time, scalable, and low-cost audio solutions.
