Voice AI engine and OpenAI partner LiveKit has a valuation of $1 billion

LiveKit, developer of infrastructure software for real-time AI-powered audio and video applications Announce Raised $100 million in funding at a $1 billion valuation.

The round comes 10 months after LiveKit Previous fundraisingled by Index Ventures with participation from existing investors, including Altimeter Capital Management, Hanabi Capital and Redpoint Ventures.

LiveKit powers OpenAI’s ChatGPT audio mode. The startup’s other clients include xAI, Salesforce, and Tesla, as well as 911 emergency services operators and mental health providers.

The company was founded in 2021 by Russ d’Sa and David Zhao as an open source software project to build applications that could transmit audio and video in real time without interruption, in an era when the whole world was meeting on Zoom during the pandemic.

Although LiveKit started out as a free tool for developers, the business took off after the founders realized that larger companies wanted a managed cloud version and began offering these services to enterprises amid the voice AI boom.