SoundHound

SoundHound AI, Inc.
Company type	Public
Industry	Voice-driven artificial intelligence
Founded	2005; 21 years ago
Founder	Keyvan Mohajer
Headquarters	Santa Clara, United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Keyvan Mohajer (CEO), Mike Zagorsek (COO), Tim Stonehocker (CTO), Nitesh Sharan (CFO), Shawnna DelHierro (CIO)
Products	Voice AI platform, Smart Answering, Smart Ordering, Dynamic Drive Thru, Voice Commerce Ecosystem, SoundHound Chat AI
Revenue	US$84.7 million (2024)
Number of employees	700 (2024)
Website	soundhound.com

SoundHound AI, Inc. (traded on Nasdaq as SOUN) is a company specializing in voice-driven artificial intelligence (AI), established in 2005 and based in Santa Clara, California. It provides a voice AI platform that allows enterprises to create tailored conversational interactions across sectors including automotive, television, IoT, dining, customer support, healthcare, finance, and retail.

With a portfolio of more than 250 patents, the company supports voice AI capabilities in 25 different languages. Its offerings encompass Smart Answering, Smart Ordering, Dynamic Drive Thru, Voice Commerce Ecosystem, and SoundHound Chat AI—a voice assistant powered by generative AI technologies.

The leadership team features CEO Keyvan Mohajer, COO Mike Zagorsek, CTO Tim Stonehocker, CFO Nitesh Sharan, and CIO Shawnna DelHierro. As of 2024, SoundHound employs roughly 700 staff members and reported revenues totaling US$84.7 million.

History

Keyvan Mohajer, an Iranian-Canadian computer scientist and entrepreneur focused on voice AI, co-founded the company in 2005.

Originally launched as Midomi, a music discovery application, it was rebranded to SoundHound in 2009. The user base expanded from 2 million in 2010 to reaching 100 million by 2012.

In 2015, SoundHound pioneered the integration of music recognition technology into vehicles through a collaboration with Hyundai’s Genesis model. That same year in December, it introduced the Houndify voice AI platform featuring proprietary Speech-to-Meaning® and Deep Meaning Understanding® technologies.

By 2018, partnerships with automotive giants Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, and Honda enabled voice interaction capabilities via Houndify. The company received the 2020 Webby Award for Productivity (Voice) under Apps, Mobile & Voice categories.

On November 16, 2021, SoundHound revealed intentions to become publicly traded through a SPAC merger with Archimedes Tech SPAC Partners Co., culminating in its Nasdaq listing under the ticker SOUN on April 28, 2022.

Amid economic pressures, the firm implemented workforce reductions of 10% in November 2022 followed by nearly half its staff in January 2023 to refocus financial priorities and hasten profitability. In April 2023, it raised $100 million via strategic funding.

The Dynamic Interaction product secured the "Best Use of AI" accolade at the 2023 Automation & Self-Service Awards. Later that year in December, SoundHound acquired SYNQ3 Restaurant Solutions for $25 million to broaden its voice AI offerings within the restaurant sector.

Between 2023 and 2024, collaborations with Jersey Mike's Subs and White Castle enabled deployment of voice AI-powered phone ordering and AI-enhanced drive-thru services at hundreds of locations. Additional clients include Casey's General Stores, Chipotle, Applebee's, Church's Texas Chicken®, Noodles & Company, Habit Burger, Beef O'Brady's, and Torchy's Tacos. By October 2024, its phone ordering system had facilitated over 100 million restaurant interactions.

In June 2024, SoundHound expanded by acquiring Allset—a restaurant ordering marketplace founded in Ukraine. Throughout the year it extended its voice AI assistant integration into European vehicles from Peugeot, Opel, Vauxhall, Alfa Romeo, Citroën, and Lancia.

August 2024 marked an $85 million acquisition of Amelia AI to enhance its footprint across financial services, insurance, healthcare, retail, and hospitality industries. Amelia powers MUSC Health’s patient appointment AI agent and earned the XCelent Advanced Technology 2024 Award for Retail Banking Solutions. In December 2024, Frost Radar™ recognized Amelia as a Leader in Enterprise Conversational AI within Healthcare.

In October 2024 SoundHound received “Overall Connected Solution of the Year” at the AutoTech Breakthrough Awards for its Chat AI vehicle assistant. The following month it integrated voice AI into Kia models sold in India with support for Hindi language.

January 2025 saw the debut of Lucid Assistant—powered by SoundHound Chat AI—in Lucid Motors’ vehicles. At CES 2025, the company unveiled an in-car voice commerce platform enabling takeout orders via vehicle infotainment systems. Later that month it partnered with Rekor Systems to combine voice AI with vehicle recognition technology for hands-free automatic license plate recognition (ALPR).

In February 2025 SoundHound introduced customizable brand personalities to its Chat AI automotive assistant to offer personalized vehicle voice identities. At Nvidia GTC 2025 in March it announced a collaboration with Nvidia aimed at scaling voice assistant capabilities using Nvidia AI Enterprise software.

April 2025 brought recognition from ISG Research as a market leader in AIOps alongside a partnership with Tencent Intelligent Mobility for global integration of voice AI into smart cockpit systems.

In May 2025 SoundHound launched Amelia 7.0—an autonomous AI agent platform—and partnered with Allina Health to deploy conversational AI solutions for patient engagement. That quarter recorded record revenue of $29.1 million—a year-over-year increase of 151%—with a broad client base nearing 200 enterprise customers across both SoundHound and Amelia platforms.

By July 2025 SoundHound earned placement on KMWorld’s “AI 100” list for excellence in intelligent knowledge management. It also established a strategic alliance with AVANT Communications to distribute Amelia 7.0 and Autonomics AI platforms through AVANT’s Trusted Advisor network—accelerating enterprise adoption across financial services, insurance, retail, and healthcare markets.

Funding and Nasdaq listing

By mid-2015, SoundHound Inc. had accumulated $40 million in capital from investors such as Global Catalyst Partners, Translink Capital, and Walden Venture Capital. Initial financing included a $7 million Series B round in 2008, led by TransLink Capital, which brought the total funding to $12 million at that stage. The following year, in 2009, Walden Venture Capital spearheaded a $4 million investment round with participation from an undisclosed device manufacturer.

In January 2017, SoundHound raised $75 million with backing from notable investors including Nvidia, Samsung, and Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers. By January 2018, the company’s valuation had reached the $1 billion mark. Subsequently, in May 2018, it secured $100 million in a financing round led by Tencent and joined by Daimler AG, Hyundai Motors, Midea Group, and Orange S.A.

SoundHound revealed plans for a public listing in November 2021 through a merger with Archimedes Tech SPAC Partners Co, valuing the company at $2.1 billion. This deal included a $111 million investment from Oracle, Qatar First Bank, Koch Industries, MKaNN Ventures, Cota Capital, VIZIO, HTC, FIH Mobile (Foxconn), among others. The transaction was finalized in April 2022.

In April 2023, the company obtained an additional $100 million via strategic funding from Atlas Credit Partners.

In February 2025, Nvidia announced it had divested its stake in SoundHound. Nevertheless, during Nvidia GTC in March 2025, SoundHound unveiled an expanded partnership incorporating Nvidia AI Enterprise into its voice AI platform.

External links

History

Funding and Nasdaq listing

See also

External links