Google’s Voice AI Accelerator Introduces 12 Startups

Google has announced the first cohort in its Google for Startups Accelerator, Voice AI, a 10-week programme designed to pair startups with experts to help tackle product development, machine learning and other technical challenges. 

Google on Monday said the 12 companies selected will gain access to resources across Google's programme and products.

The COVID-19 pandemic appears to have accelerated the usage of voice apps which was already on an upswing.

According to a study by NPR and Edison Research, the percentage of voice-enabled device owners who use commands at least once a day rose between the beginning of 2020 and the start of April. Just over a third of smart speaker owners say they listen to more music, entertainment, and news from their devices than they did before, and owners report requesting an average of 10.8 tasks per week from their assistant this year compared with 9.4 different tasks in 2019.

The programme is to enable the selected startups to get assistance on product design, technical infrastructure, customers acquisition and leadership development.

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“The programme will focus on product design, technical infrastructure, customer acquisition, and leadership development thereby granting our founders access to an expansive network of mentors, senior executives, and industry leaders,” Google head of startup developer ecosystem Jason Scott and head of Assistant investments Saurabh Sharma wrote in a blog post.

“We are incredibly excited to support this group of entrepreneurs over the next three months, connecting them with the best of our people, products, and programming to advance their companies and solutions.”

Among the startups selected for Voice AI are Babbly, a Toronto, Canada-based platform that provides parents insights on their child’s speech and language skills and recommends activities that promote development.

Another is Bespoken, a company headquartered in Seattle that’s developing automated testing, training, and monitoring for voice applications and devices.

Other recipients are ConversationHealth, which enables conversational agents for patients and health care professionals in clinical trials, medical affairs, and commercial lines of business.

 Nēdl, which hosts a live call-in radio station that transcribes, amplifies and monetizes the audio creator’s words and Oto.AI, which is building an engine capable of delivering “non-semantic” insights (e.g., intonation, emotions, and laughter) from voice streams in real-time on a small compute footprint. 

others are Piffle, Powow AI, Simbi, Talkatoo, Tinychef, Voicify, Vowel and Voice AI.

 The companies will showcase their work on May 20 at 12:30 p.m.