LiveKit Hits $1B Valuation: The Startup Powering OpenAI’s Voice

Who's behind the seamless voice behind ChatGPT? LiveKit, the infrastructure backbone for real-time AI audio and video, has just announced a $100 million funding round. This latest injection of capital brings the company's valuation to a staggering $1 billion, marking its official entry into the unicorn club.

LiveKit $1B Valuation: Scaling the Future of Voice AI

According to reports, Index Ventures led the round, with participation from Altimeter Capital, Hanabi Capital, and Redpoint Ventures. The deal comes just 10 months after their previous fundraise, signaling intense investor appetite for AI infrastructure. It's not just hype; LiveKit has become the go-to provider for tech's heavy hitters.

Beyond its high-profile partnership with OpenAI, the startup's customer list includes xAI, Salesforce, and Tesla. Their technology is even utilized in mission-critical environments, such as 911 emergency services and mental health platforms, where uninterrupted real-time communication is a matter of life and death.

From Pandemic Project to AI Essential

Founded in 2021 by Russ d’Sa and David Zhao, LiveKit initially gained traction as an open-source tool. It was designed to fix the laggy video calls we all endured on Zoom during the pandemic. However, the business pivoted toward enterprise managed services as the voice AI boom took off, realizing that tech giants didn't just want the code—they wanted a reliable, cloud-hosted infrastructure.