Lovo AI Raises $4.5M in Pre-Series A Funding

The Rise of Personalized AI Voices: LOVO Secures Funding

The demand for customized voice experiences has spurred growth in the field of AI-based voice assistants. Many users seek to move beyond the standard, often impersonal, voices offered by services such as Alexa. Now, a company focused on developing and deploying these personalized "voice skins" is poised for expansion thanks to a recent funding injection.

LOVO's Pre-Series A Funding

LOVO, an artificial intelligence (AI) and synthetic speech technology company based in Berkeley, California, has successfully closed a $4.5 million pre-Series A funding round. This investment was spearheaded by South Korean firm Kakao Entertainment, with participation from Kakao Investment and LG CNS, the IT solutions division of LG Group.

Previously invested capital from SkyDeck Fund and Michael Kim, DoorDash’s VP of Finance, was also included in this latest round.

Strategic Allocation of Funds

The newly acquired funds will be strategically allocated to accelerate LOVO’s research and development efforts in both artificial intelligence and synthetic speech technologies. A significant portion will also be dedicated to expanding the company’s team.

According to co-founder and COO Tom Lee, the company intends to significantly increase hiring across multiple departments. These include machine learning, artificial intelligence, product development, marketing, and business development. Furthermore, resources like GPUs and CPUs will be secured to support these advancements.

Company Overview and Future Goals

Established in November 2019, LOVO currently comprises 17 individuals, including both co-founders: CEO Charlie Choi and COO Lee.

The company is committed to refining its AI model, enhancing the quality of its AI voices, and ultimately delivering a product that surpasses existing market offerings. Lee stated their ambition is to become a global leader in AI voice technology.

“Our objective is to create AI voices that resonate with people on an emotional level,” Lee explained. “We aim to democratize content creation by providing a comprehensive platform for all voice-related needs.”

Applications Across Diverse Industries

LOVO’s technology empowers both enterprises and individual creators to generate voiceover content for a wide range of applications. These include marketing materials, e-learning modules, customer support systems, films, video games, chatbots, and augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) experiences.

To date, over 5 million pieces of voice content have been created by users on the LOVO platform since its launch just over a year ago, as reported by co-founder and CEO Choi.

LOVO’s Product Suite

LOVO’s flagship product, LOVO Studio, launched last year, provides a user-friendly interface for finding, producing, and publishing voiceover content. Developers can integrate LOVO’s Voiceover API into their applications to convert text into speech in real-time.

Furthermore, users can create personalized AI voices through LOVO’s DIY Voice Cloning service, requiring only 15 minutes of script reading.

LOVO currently offers a library of over 200 voice skins, categorized by language, style, and situation to meet diverse user requirements.

Market Opportunity and Growth Potential

The global text-to-speech (TTS) market is currently valued at $3 billion, while the global voiceover market is estimated at approximately $10 billion. Research Interviewer’s report, published in August 2021, projects the Global TTS market to reach $5.61 billion by 2028, growing from $1.94 billion in 2020.

LOVO has already established a user base of 50,000 and secured over 50 enterprise clients, including J.B. Hunt, Bouncer, CPA Canada, LG CNS, and South Korea’s Shinhan Bank.

Key Market Segments and Notable Projects

LOVO’s primary target markets are marketing, education, entertainment (movies and games), and AR/VR. The company’s voice technology was recently featured in the film “Spiral,” the latest installment in the Saw series.

The recent funding from a South Korean entertainment company is anticipated to foster further collaborations within the entertainment industry.

Industry Perspectives and Future Expansion

J.H. Ryu, VP of CEO Vision Office at Kakao Entertainment, expressed excitement about the potential synergies between LOVO and Kakao Entertainment’s future projects, particularly in web novels and music. Ryu emphasized the emerging market for audio content and the potential for individual voices to become valuable intellectual property.

Chon Tang, founding partner at SkyDeck Fund, highlighted LOVO’s superior performance in quality and cost compared to other cloud-based solutions, noting the challenges of producing audio content at scale.

LOVO is also actively pursuing international expansion, with a strong presence already established in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The company is receiving interest from Europe, South America, and Asia, and plans to expand into Europe soon, alongside its existing office in South Korea.