Shoosmiths advises Speechmatics on major funding round
July, 2022 - Milton Keynes, England
The venture capital team at law firm Shoosmiths has advised technology company Speechmatics in raising $62 million in Series B funding.
Speechmatics is a technology company based in Cambridge, England, which develops automatic speech recognition software based on recurrent neural networks and statistical language modelling. The company is currently working with some of the largest blue-chip companies in the world as renowned experts with the most accurate and inclusive speech-to-text engine available – already understanding 34 languages for live and pre-recorded media.
The funding round was led by Susquehanna Growth Equity with participation from existing investors AlbionVC and IQ Capital.
This major investment will enable the software business to fulfil its ambitious growth plans, with the investment being used to support global expansion across the United States and Asia-Pacific, improving infrastructure – particularly data centre capacity, and adding further support to its research and development to deliver even more accurate understanding of even more voices.
The Shoosmiths team was led by partner Alastair Peet, with support from principal associate Nick Little, associate Elizabeth Roberts and trainee solicitor Jess Waldron.
Alastair Peet, head of venture capital at Shoosmiths, commented: “This significant investment is testament to the impressive and market leading product that Speechmatics already offers – now set to expand significantly. We are proud to have supported the business on every fundraise since December 2016, playing a part in their exponential growth and success.”
Katy Wigdahl, CEO at Speechmatics, said: “Our progress in the last few years left us inundated with interest from investors for our Series B fundraise. We chose to work with Susquehanna Growth Equity because they have a fantastic global footprint and a history of supporting significant growth in software businesses. The Shoosmiths team were vital in us reaching this new stage in Speechmatics’ journey, and we are grateful for their expert support once again.”
Shoosmiths’ venture capital team has acted for Speechmatics since 2016, include a Series A funding round in 2017 worth £6.35 million.
