AudioShake has recently announced it raised $14 million in Series A funding. This funding round was led by Shine Capital, with notable contributions from Thomson Reuters Ventures, Origin Ventures, Background Capital, as well as existing investors Indicator Ventures and Precursor Ventures.
The core innovation from AudioShake lies in its ability to use artificial intelligence to deconstruct audio recordings into their individual components. Traditionally, audio has been somewhat restricted, akin to a “read-only” format; while users could listen, they lacked the tools to easily manipulate its elements. AudioShake changes that narrative. Its advanced technology allows users to take any form of audio—be it a movie soundtrack, a podcast, a sports broadcast, or even a simple phone call—and split it into distinct tracks that can be isolated by voice, music, and sound effects. The quality remains at a professional standard, making all audio content editable, searchable, and programmable for the first time.
Many existing technologies have attempted to provide audio separation capabilities; however, AudioShake differentiates itself by working with any existing audio recording, regardless of its source. This includes not only contemporary recordings but also decades-old content and audio captured from the physical world that was not initially designed for separation. The result is broadcast-quality output made accessible through straightforward APIs.
Over the past year, AudioShake has experienced remarkable growth, securing more than 40 enterprise contracts across media and artificial intelligence sectors. This success has led to nearly 400 percent year-over-year revenue growth and the processing of over 100 million minutes of audio. The company’s business model combines annual subscription fees with usage-based pricing, and its notable clientele includes industry leaders such as Universal Music, Disney Music Group, Warner Music Group, Warner Bros Discovery, BET, NFL Films, and several other prominent “Mag 7” companies.
The applications of AudioShake’s technology are diverse and span multiple industries. For instance, music labels like BMG and Reservoir Media have utilized the software to separate vocals and instruments in albums by influential artists such as Nina Simone and De La Soul, allowing these works to be offered in immersive audio formats. Additionally, film and post-production studios, such as Deluxe, are utilizing AudioShake to isolate dialogue, music, and sound effects for editing and producing foreign-language dubbing. Radio stations, newsrooms, and podcast platforms benefit from the technology by removing unwanted background noise and separating overlapping speakers. Sports leagues and organizations are also leveraging the technology to eliminate unlicensed music from video clips, helping them avoid potential copyright infringements.
Beyond the entertainment industry, AI companies have turned to AudioShake to help create expansive training datasets of structured audio data. By separating mixed audio sources into their individual components, these companies can better prepare their audio data for multimodal AI training. AudioShake currently collaborates with many of the leading “Mag 7” technology companies and AI model labs, processing millions of hours of licensed audio content to support the next generation of AI models.
With this new funding, AudioShake intends to accelerate its product development, expand its hiring efforts, and enhance its go-to-market strategies. This includes increasing access to AudioShake’s APIs and introducing real-time SDKs for both developers and enterprises looking to utilize the technology.
AudioShake was founded in 2021 by Jessica Powell, a former VP of Google, and Luke Miner, who previously led data science at Plaid. The team now consists of 18 members, approximately half of whom hold PhDs, underscoring the expertise and innovation that drive the company forward.
KEY QUOTES:
“From the beginning, we’ve built AudioShake hand-in-hand with content owners—helping them unlock new creative opportunities for their work. At the same time, we’ve seen immense potential for our technology to help machines make sense of the physical world through sound. This funding enables us to advance on both fronts.”
Jessica Powell, Co-Founder and CEO of AudioShake
“AudioShake is building the foundational layer that makes audio as flexible as text or images. Every audio file contains multiple layers of information that were previously inaccessible. AudioShake unlocks that value.”
Alex Hartz, General Partner at Shine Capital
“Thomson Reuters Ventures invests in innovative companies that align with our strategic objectives and the markets we serve. In the media sector – and more broadly – audio represents one of the last frontiers of unstructured data that organizations struggle to fully leverage. AudioShake’s technology transforms audio from a static asset into actionable data. We see tremendous potential for this capability across industries where audio content contains critical business intelligence that was previously locked away. We are thrilled to be partnering with this highly talented team.”
Tamara Steffens, Managing Director, Thomson Reuters Ventures
