LiveKit hits $1 billion valuation with $100 million funding

LiveKit, a developer of infrastructure software for real-time audio and video applications, has announced a $100 million funding round that values the company at $1 billion. The investment, which was led by venture capital firm Index Ventures, marks the startup’s transition to unicorn status. This capital injection comes 10 months after LiveKit’s previous fundraise, and the capital will support the company’s efforts to scale its real-time voice and video infrastructure.

The funding round also saw participation from several of LiveKit’s existing investors, including:

• Altimeter Capital Management
• Hanabi Capital
• Redpoint Ventures

LiveKit’s core offering is its infrastructure for real-time voice AI, which is the technology enabling low-latency, conversational interfaces. The startup’s software is a component of the artificial intelligence ecosystem, most notably powering OpenAI’s ChatGPT voice mode. In addition to its partnership with OpenAI, LiveKit has built an enterprise customer base that includes technology companies such as xAI, Salesforce, and Tesla. The company’s real-time communication tools are also deployed by 911 emergency service operators and mental health providers who require reliable audio and video transmission.

The company was originally founded in 2021 by Russ d’Sa and David Zhao. It began as an open source software project designed to help developers build applications that can transmit real-time audio and video without interruptions. This open-source tool emerged during the pandemic, a period when the world was meeting on Zoom. Although LiveKit was initially offered as a free developer tool, the business model evolved as the founders recognized a demand from big companies. They realized that enterprise clients wanted a managed cloud version—a service model where the company hosts and maintains the software for enterprise clients. By providing these managed services to enterprises, LiveKit commercialized its open-source foundation amid the voice AI boom.

Why it matters

LiveKit’s unicorn valuation highlights the enterprise demand for reliable, low-latency infrastructure to power the boom in real-time voice AI applications.