Hey Openbeta, 

It’s Danika here, GM of Betaworks Camp. It’s no secret that at Betaworks we’re incredibly optimistic about the future of audio. We’ve been investing in podcasting and audio applications for over five years now, including writing the first check into Anchor and as the first institutional investors in Gimlet (both acquired by Spotify). In 2017 we ran Voicecamp to explore the frontiers of voice-first technology.

The place audio has in our lives has changed dramatically over the past few years, from the explosion of podcasting and on-demand streaming music services like Spotify and Apple Music, to the ubiquity of AirPods and voice-based assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google Home.

But even with all that change we believe we’re still in the beginning stages of a new wave of innovation around audio and voice. There have recently been major advances in Natural Language Processing (the way we and computers understand each other in human language, not code). The proliferation of excellent audio content means we’re in need of new approaches to discovery and monetization. Synthetic speech and new AI-enhanced editing tools promise to drastically reduce production costs, enabling the creation of all new kinds of audio-based content that wouldn’t be cost-effective otherwise. Smart headphones like AirPods open up new possibilities in mobile, voice-first applications and utilities.

All of this is why we’re announcing our next Camp program, Audiocamp, which will dive deep into this new frontier. Through this thematic investment and residency program, Betaworks Ventures will invest in and mentor start-ups building on top of the latest advancements in NLP, or inventing new mobile, voice-enabled experiences and utilities, or engaging audiences in new ways of finding and supporting their next favorite audio programming, or developing new social listening experiences for all types of audio.  

We’d love to hear from you if you’re building in this space. Get in touch here.