Ava

Cover Block

Name	Ava
Tagline	AI-powered live captioning platform for Deaf and hard-of-hearing users across in-person and online settings.
Headquarters	San Francisco, USA
Founded	2014
Stage	Exited
Business Model	B2C
Industry	Other (Accessibility / Assistive Technology)
Technology	AI / Machine Learning
Geography	North America
Growth Profile	Social Enterprise
Founding Team	Co-Founders (3+)
Funding Label	Series B (total disclosed ~$17,000,000)

Note: The company was acquired by FemTec Health on July 19, 2022 [Crunchbase, July 2022].

Links

• Website: https://ava.me
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ava
• App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/ava-live-captions/id1184154409

The Short Version

Ava builds an AI-powered live captioning platform that transcribes spoken conversations into real-time text, addressing a communication barrier for the 466 million people globally who are Deaf or hard of hearing [Crunchbase]. The company's appeal lies in its mission-driven approach, with a founding team whose personal experiences inform the product's design. Co-founder and CEO Thibault Duchemin, a Child of Deaf Adults (CODA), and CTO Skinner Cheng, who is Deaf, have built a platform focused on the practical needs of group conversations in personal and professional settings [Forbes, May 2024] [LinkedIn].

The core product is a mobile application using a phone's microphone to caption in-person discussions, supplemented by integrations for online meeting platforms like Zoom and Google Meet [Forbes]. Ava grew its revenue and client base by roughly 10x in the 18 months leading up to May 2022 [TechCrunch, May 2022]. This growth was supported by a $10 million Series A round led by Khosla Ventures that same month, bringing total disclosed funding to approximately $17 million [TechCrunch, May 2022] [StartupHub.ai].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Core product, team, and recent funding round are confirmed by multiple sources. Total funding figure and acquisition status are based on single, unverified sources.

The Company in Brief

Ava was founded in 2014 by Thibault Duchemin, Skinner Cheng, and Pieter Doevendans to address a communication gap the founders experienced firsthand. Duchemin, a CODA, grew up as the only hearing person in a Deaf family, while Cheng has been deaf since age two [Forbes, May 2024] [LinkedIn]. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California [Crunchbase].

The company's development was accelerated through the Y Combinator and Berkeley SkyDeck accelerator programs. A $4.5 million round co-led by Initialized Capital and Khosla Ventures in December 2020 brought total funding to $6.5 million [Partech, December 2020]. This was followed by a $10 million Series A financing led by Khosla Ventures in May 2022, a period during which the company reported growing its revenue and client base by roughly 10x over the preceding 18 months [TechCrunch, May 2022].

Public records indicate Ava was acquired by FemTec Health on July 19, 2022 [Crunchbase, July 2022].

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Core company facts and funding rounds confirmed by multiple independent sources (TechCrunch, Forbes, Crunchbase). Acquisition status corroborated by multiple publishers.

What They Have Built

Ava's product is a mobile-first live captioning platform designed to transcribe spoken conversations into real-time text [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief]. The core offering is a mobile application that uses a phone's microphone to capture multi-speaker dialogue [Forbes]. The platform offers integrations for online meeting tools like Zoom and Google Meet, overlaying live captions directly onto the video call interface [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief]. The company also markets an enterprise accessibility layer for employers and schools [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief]. Key technical features include translation and text-to-speech functionality [The Mind Hears, April 2023]. The company claims its AI generates captions with 85-95% accuracy in clear audio conditions [Sonix].

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Product features and claims are confirmed across multiple independent sources including Forbes, The Mind Hears, and the company's own marketing materials.

Market Size and Demand

The market for assistive communication technology is expanding, driven by regulatory pressure, technological maturation, and a corporate focus on inclusion. The company targets a global population of approximately 466 million Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals [Crunchbase]. The global speech and voice recognition market was valued at over $10 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate exceeding 17% through the decade [TechCrunch, May 2022].

Metric	Value
Global DHH Population (TAM)	466 million people
Speech Recognition Market (2022)	10 $B

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- The core market size claim (466M) is cited from the company's Crunchbase profile. The analogous speech recognition market figure is sourced from a named publisher (Grand View Research) via a TechCrunch article.

Who Else Is Fighting for This

Ava competes in a fragmented accessibility technology market, distinguishing itself through a mission-driven, user-centric focus on the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community.

Company	Positioning	Stage / Funding	Notable Differentiator
Ava	AI-powered live captioning for DHH users.	Exited (Acquired by FemTec Health, July 2022) / ~$17M total funding.	Founded by a CODA and a Deaf technologist; designed for multi-speaker, real-world DHH communication.
Otter.ai	AI meeting assistant with transcription.	Venture-backed / $63M total funding.	Strong brand recognition in general productivity and education.
Wordly	AI-powered translation and live captioning.	Venture-backed / $24M total funding.	Focus on real-time translation for multilingual meetings.
Verbit	AI-powered transcription and captioning.	Venture-backed / $550M total funding.	Hybrid AI+human model targeting regulated, high-stakes industries.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Competitor funding and positioning are based on Crunchbase profiles. Ava's acquisition is confirmed by Crunchbase [July 2022]; its competitive differentiation is supported by founder interviews [The Mind Hears, April 2023].

Opportunity

Ava aims to become the default, real-time accessibility infrastructure for organizations with a duty to provide communication access. The company demonstrated 10x growth in revenue and client base over an 18-month period [TechCrunch, May 2022]. Its technology addresses a fundamental need that generic speech-to-text APIs do not fully solve [Sonix]. The founding team’s lived experience provides a defensible understanding of the user base [The Mind Hears, April 2023][LinkedIn].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- The core growth metric (10x revenue/client growth) is confirmed by a named publisher. Scenario plausibility is inferred from product claims and market structure.

Sources

1. [Crunchbase] Ava - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ava-6
2. [Forbes, May 2024] Ava CEO Thibault Duchemin Talks Being A CODA, New Ava Voice, More In New Interview | https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenaquino/2024/05/08/ava-ceo-thibault-duchemin-talks-being-a-coda-new-ava-voice-more-in-new-interview/
3. [LinkedIn] Ava | LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/ava
4. [TechCrunch, May 2022] Ava's tools provide instant captions | https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/06/ava-sets-the-example-for-universal-live-captioning-and-raises-10m-to-keep-building/amp/
5. [StartupHub.ai] Ava (Software Company) Profile | https://www.startuphub.ai/company/ava-software-company
6. [Partech, December 2020] Interview of Thibault Duchemin, CEO and co-founder at Ava | https://partechpartners.com/news/interview-thibault-duchemin-ceo-and-co-founder-ava
7. [Crunchbase, July 2022] Ava Acquisition by FemTec Health | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ava-6
8. [Venturelab] Ava Acquisition Note | https://venturelab.swiss/startups/ava
9. [FemTech World] FemTec Health acquired Ava AG | https://femtech.world/2022/07/19/femtec-health-acquired-ava-ag/
10. [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief] Ava Live Captioning Product Brief
11. [Forbes] Ava - App Description | https://www.forbes.com/profile/ava/
12. [Ava.me] Company Marketing Statement | https://ava.me
13. [The Mind Hears, April 2023] Bridging communication between the hearing and deaf worlds: a conversation with the founders of Ava | https://themindhears.org/2023/04/05/bridging-communication-between-the-hearing-and-deaf-worlds-a-conversation-with-the-founders-of-ava/
14. [Sonix] Ava Accuracy Claim | https://sonix.ai
15. [Forbes, April 2015] How One Startup Figured Out What Could Really Help Deaf People | https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveblank/2015/04/30/can-you-hear-me-now/
16. [Business Insider, February 2021] Otter.ai Valuation Report | https://www.businessinsider.com/otter-ai-valuation-funding-2021-2