Company:SoundHound

From HandWiki
SoundHound AI, Inc.
FormerlyMelodis Corp
TypePublic
NASDAQ: SOUN
Industry
  • Speech Recognition
  • Mobile Technology
FoundedSeptember 2005; 20 years ago (2005-09)[citation needed]
Founders
  • Keyvan Mohajer
  • Majid Emami
  • James Hom
HeadquartersSanta Clara, California, United States
Products
RevenueIncrease US$84.7 million (2024)
Number of employees
700 (2024)
Websitesoundhound.com
Footnotes / references
[1]

SoundHound AI, Inc. (Nasdaq: SOUN) is an American music and speech recognition company based in Santa Clara, California. It was originally founded as Melodis in 2005 before rebranding to SoundHound Inc. in 2010, and SoundHound AI in 2022.

SoundHound provides voice-recognition and synthesis software for use in business and sales applications, such as drive-through restaurants.[2][3][4]

History

The company was founded in 2005 as Melodis Corp by Keyvan Mohajer, Majid Emami, and James Hom. The company initially focused on music recognition as a competitor to the Shazam app.[5][6][7]

In 2009, the company's music discovery app Midomi was rebranded as SoundHound but was still available as a web version on midomi.com until February 2025.[8][9] The app grew from 2 million users in January 2010 to 100 million users in September 2012.[10]

In 2010, the company formally rebranded from Melodis Corp. to SoundHound.[5][7]

In 2015, Hyundai Motors began offering the SoundHound music recognition app in the infotainment systems of some Hyundai and Kia models.[11]

In December 2015, SoundHound launched Houndify, a voice interface for other products and services.[12]

In April 2022, coinciding with its listing on NASDAQ via a SPAC merger, the company rebranded from SoundHound to SoundHound AI.[13][14]

In December 2023, SoundHound acquired SYNQ3 Restaurant Solutions, a provider of voice AI for restaurants, for $25 million.[15]

In 2023–2024, SoundHound began providing voice AI phone ordering technology to various restaurant chains, starting with Jersey Mike's Subs and White Castle.[16][17] The company's customer base also includes Applebee's, Beef O'Brady's, Casey's General Stores, Chipotle, Church's Texas Chicken, Habit Burger, Noodles & Company, Torchy's Tacos, and Red Lobster.[18][19][20][21] As of 2023, SoundHound's AI voice platform supported 25 languages.[22] In October 2024, SoundHound claimed their phone ordering technology had processed over 100 million interactions with restaurant customers.[23]

In June 2024, SoundHound acquired Allset, a restaurant ordering marketplace founded out of Ukraine.[24]

In August 2024, SoundHound acquired Amelia AI for $85 million.[25]

In September 2025, it was announced that SoundHound had completed its acquisition of Interactions LLC, a company which also developed AI for the customer service market.[26]

Funding

According to a June 2015 article, SoundHound Inc. had raised a total of $40 million in funding with investments from Global Catalyst Partners, Translink Capital, Walden Venture Capital, and others.[27] This included $7 million in a Series B funding round the company secured in October 2008, bringing total funds raised to $12 million at that time. The round was led by TransLink Capital with the participation of JAIC America and Series A investor Global Catalyst Partners.[28] In 2009, SoundHound attracted additional funding from Larry Marcus at Walden Venture Capital, who had previously invested in music startups Pandora and Snocap. The $4 million funding round was led by Walden Venture Capital VII, with the participation of an unnamed device manufacturer.[29]

In January 2017, the company raised another $75 million in an investment round that included Nvidia, Samsung, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, and others.[30]

As of January 2018, the valuation of the company had reached $1 billion.[31] Announced in May 2018, SoundHound raised $100 million from a funding round led by Tencent and joined by Daimler AG, Hyundai Motors, Midea Group, and Orange S.A.[32]

In November 2021, SoundHound first announced the merger with Archimedes Tech SPAC Partners Co to go public with $2.1B valuation, with $111 million of investments from Oracle, Qatar First Bank, Koch Industries, and MKaNN Ventures, Cota Capital, VIZIO, HTC, FIH Mobile (a Foxconn Technology Group company), and others.[33][34]

On April 28, 2022, the combined company SoundHound AI, Inc. went public, listed under the symbol SOUN on the Nasdaq.[35]

In November 2022, the company implemented a 10% workforce reduction and salary adjustments.[36] Reports at the time indicated that SoundHound had secured less than half of the anticipated funds from its SPAC merger.[37] In January 2023, the company reduced its workforce by approximately 50%.[38]

In April 2023, SoundHound secured $100 million in strategic financing.[39]

In February 2025, Nvidia disclosed in a regulatory filing that it had sold its stake in SoundHound.[40]

In the second quarter of 2025, the company reported a revenue of $42.7 million, an increase of 217% year-over-year.[41]

Awards and recognition

SoundHound won the 2020 Webby Award for Productivity (Voice) in the category Apps, Mobile & Voice.[42]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "SoundHound AI, Inc. 2023 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. March 1, 2024. https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1840856/000184085624000013/soun-20231231.htm. 
  2. ↑ Lucas, Peter (5 May 2023). "Presto Rolls Out Voice Ordering; SoundHound Integrates Voice Ordering With Oracle's POS". https://www.digitaltransactions.net/presto-rolls-out-voice-ordering-soundhound-integrates-voice-ordering-with-oracles-pos/. 
  3. ↑ Godwin, Cody (2 December 2022). "Does the future of drive-thrus look less human? AI software shows off order-taking skills". https://www.usatoday.com/videos/tech/2022/12/02/ai-company-shows-off-futuristic-drive-thru-tech/10817935002/. 
  4. ↑ "10-K Annual Report Fri Mar 01 2024". https://last10k.com/sec-filings/soun/0001840856-24-000013.htm. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Melodis changes name to SoundHound". Silicon Valley Business Journal. May 21, 2010. https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2010/05/17/daily100.html. 
  6. ↑ "Leadership Team - SoundHound AI" (in en). https://investors.soundhound.com/leadership-team. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Heim, Anna (November 25, 2021). "Why SoundHound is valued at 5 Shazams". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2021/11/25/why-soundhound-is-valued-at-5-shazams/. 
  8. ↑ Rollison, Damian (January 27, 2010). "Tune identifier SoundHound announces new version with Pandora, tour dates". Venturebeat. https://venturebeat.com/2010/01/27/tune-identifier-soundhound-announces-version-3-1-with-pandora-tour-dates/. Retrieved 1 March 2016. 
  9. ↑ "midomi.com". https://www.midomi.com/. 
  10. ↑ Empson, Rip (20 September 2012). "Chasing Shazam, SoundHound Quietly Passes 100M Users, Averaging 200K Downloads/Day". https://techcrunch.com/2012/09/20/chasing-shazam-soundhound-quietly-passes-100m-users-averaging-200k-downloadsday/. 
  11. ↑ "Hyundai and Kia tap SoundHound to help you identify music in your car". January 14, 2014. https://www.engadget.com/2014/01/14/hyundai-kia-soundhound-music-tagging/. Retrieved June 5, 2015. 
  12. ↑ Ha, Anthony (15 December 2015). "SoundHound Launches Houndify Platform To Add A Voice Interface To Other Apps And Devices". https://techcrunch.com/2015/12/15/soundhound-launches-houndify/. 
  13. ↑ Stassen, Murray (2021-11-22). "Voice and music recognition firm SoundHound to list on NASDAQ with $2.1bn valuation via SPAC merger" (in en-US). https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/voice-and-music-recognition-firm-soundhound-to-list-on-nasdaq-with-2-1bn-valuation-via-spac-merger/. 
  14. ↑ "SoundHound Announces Closing of Business Combination". BusinessWire (Press release). Retrieved 12 November 2025.
  15. ↑ Rossolillo, Nicholas (2023-12-08). "SoundHound AI Bets on the Restaurant Industry -- Is the Stock a Buy Before the End of 2023?" (in en). https://www.fool.com/investing/2023/12/08/soundhound-ai-bets-on-the-restaurant-industry/. 
  16. ↑ Canham-Clyne, Aneurin (25 January 2024). "Jersey Mike's to use SoundHound's phone AI in at least 50 restaurants". https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/jersey-mikes-to-use-soundhounds-phone-ai-in-50-restaurants/705468/. 
  17. ↑ David, Emilia (2 August 2023). "White Castle will bring more AI to its drive-thrus". https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/2/23817406/white-castle-soundhound-ai-sliders. 
  18. ↑ "SoundHound AI Eclipses 100 Million Interactions in Restaurant Phone Orders". 31 October 2024. https://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/soundhound-ai-eclipses-100-million-interactions-in-restaurant-phone-orders/. 
  19. ↑ Canham-Clyne, Aneurin (5 December 2024). "Torchy's Tacos deploys phone AI ordering". https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/torchys-tacos-adds-soundhounds-phone-ai/734759/. 
  20. ↑ Canham-Clyne, Aneurin (11 December 2024). "Church's Texas Chicken turns to drive-thru AI". https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/churchs-texas-chicken-deploys-soundhound-drive-thru-ai/735282/. 
  21. ↑ Guszkowski, Joe (23 September 2025). "Red Lobster and Captain D's add AI voice ordering". https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/technology/red-lobster-captain-ds-add-ai-voice-ordering. 
  22. ↑ Yu, Jea (8 February 2023). "Is SoundHound Voice AI the Next Big Thing?". https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/stocks/PATH-N/pressreleases/14053525/is-soundhound-voice-ai-the-next-big-thing/. 
  23. ↑ "SoundHound AI Eclipses 100 Million Interactions in Restaurant Phone Orders". 31 October 2024. https://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/soundhound-ai-eclipses-100-million-interactions-in-restaurant-phone-orders/. 
  24. ↑ David, Emilia (20 June 2024). "SoundHound buys Allset to bring AI voice ordering to more drive-throughs". https://venturebeat.com/ai/soundhound-buys-allset-to-bring-ai-voice-ordering-to-more-drive-throughs/. 
  25. ↑ "SoundHound Expands Reach of Conversational AI Offering With Amelia Acquisition". 8 August 2024. https://www.pymnts.com/acquisitions/2024/soundhound-expands-reach-conversational-ai-offering-with-amelia-acquisition/. 
  26. ↑ Mitchell, Charlie (9 September 2025). "SoundHound AI Acquires Interactions for $60MN, Converges the Conversational AI Space". https://www.cxtoday.com/conversational-ai/soundhound-ai-acquires-interactions-for-60mn-converges-the-conversational-ai-space/. 
  27. ↑ Winkler, Rolf (June 2, 2015). "SoundHound App Emerges to Take On Apple and Google in Voice Search". Wall Street Journal. https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/06/02/soundhound-app-emerges-to-take-on-apple-and-google-in-voice-search/. 
  28. ↑ Staff, V. C. J. (2008-10-08). "Melodis Adds $7 Million" (in en-US). https://www.venturecapitaljournal.com/melodis-adds-7-million/. 
  29. ↑ Wauters, Robin (August 25, 2011). "Music Search Startup SoundHound Partners With Spotify For Instant Streaming". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2011/08/25/music-search-startup-soundhound-partners-with-spotify-for-instant-streaming/. Retrieved 1 March 2016. 
  30. ↑ Yeung, Ken (January 31, 2017). "SoundHound raises $75 million to expand access to its Houndify voice-powered platform". VentureBeat. https://venturebeat.com/2017/01/31/soundhound-raises-75-million-to-expand-access-to-its-houndify-voice-powered-platform/. 
  31. ↑ Schleifer, Theodore (January 24, 2018). "SoundHound, once just a music-recognition app, is now a billion dollar company". recode. Archived from the original on January 25, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180125040259/https://www.recode.net/2018/1/24/16930330/soundhound-billion-unicorn-fundraising-shazam-music-recognition-app. 
  32. ↑ Lynley, Matthew (2018-05-03). "SoundHound has raised a big $100M round to take on Alexa and Google Assistant". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/03/soundhound-has-raised-a-big-100m-round-to-take-on-alexa-and-google-assistant/. 
  33. ↑ "INSERTING and REPLACING SoundHound Inc., Global Leader in Voice AI Technology, to Become Publicly Traded Through Proposed Merger With Archimedes Tech SPAC Partners Co" (Press release). 2021-11-16. Retrieved 2022-01-16 – via BusinessWire.
  34. ↑ "Qatar First Bank invests in US-based voice AI firm, SoundHound - NNR" (Press release). 2021-11-28. Retrieved 2022-01-16 – via NewsnReleases.
  35. ↑ "SoundHound Announces Closing of Business Combination" (Press release). 27 April 2022 – via BusinessWire.
  36. ↑ Singh, Jagmeet (10 November 2022). "SoundHound, the voice AI platform, lays off 10% of staff citing 'challenging market conditions'". https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/10/soundhound-layoffs/. 
  37. ↑ Schubarth, Cromwell (November 10, 2022). "SoundHound is slashing 10% of its staff and cutting the pay of other workers". https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2022/11/10/soundhound-lays-off-10-of-staff-cuts-pay.html. 
  38. ↑ DeGeurin, Mack (2023-01-13). "Voice AI Company SoundHound Lays Off Nearly Half Its Staff and Offers 'Pitiful' Severance" (in en-US). https://gizmodo.com/soundhound-lays-off-half-employees-pitiful-severance-1849987534. 
  39. ↑ "SoundHound AI Secures $100 Million in Strategic Financing From Atlas Credit Partners" (Press release). 2023-04-17. Retrieved 2024-10-06 – via BusinessWire.
  40. ↑ Singh, Jaspreet (14 February 2025). "Nvidia cuts stake in Arm Holdings, discloses position in China's WeRide". https://www.reuters.com/technology/nvidia-cuts-stake-arm-holdings-invests-chinas-weride-2025-02-14/. 
  41. ↑ "SoundHound Stock Soars 20% on 'Strongest Ever Quarter'". 8 August 2025. https://www.barrons.com/articles/soundhound-earning-stock-price-3cbc0842. 
  42. ↑ Kastrenakes, Jacob (May 20, 2020). "Here are all the winners of the 2020 Webby Awards" (in en). https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/20/21263445/2020-webby-awards-winners-lil-nas-x-nasa-jon-krasinski. Retrieved May 22, 2020. 



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