Treble, an Iceland-based startup, raised $18 million in an extension of its Series A funding. The round was led by Paladin Capital Group, with participation from existing investors KOMPAS VC, Frumtak Ventures, EIC, and Omega ehf. It received an investment of $12 million in 2024, bringing its total raise to date to over $40 million.

The company, founded in 2020 by acoustic engineers Finnur Pind and Jesper Pedersen, offers a synthetic data generation platform for voice AI companies. It also evaluates voice AI models in different conditions to provide feedback to labs. Earlier this year, it partnered with Hugging Face to launch a benchmark for speech recognition models across different realistic conditions.

"Audio AI is really a data challenge, and this is where the most opportunities to enable next-generation models and hardware lie," said Finnur Pind, co-founder of Treble.

"To date, pretty much all sound-related AI has been made from recordings and data scraped from the internet. We believe that accurate physics simulation can be an alternative way to create data for sound."

Treble also focuses on hardware design and testing from a voice perspective. It works with headphone and speaker companies for virtual prototyping to help them understand how their product might sound. It could also test how a smart speaker can understand commands based on the positioning of the speaker.

Lately, Treble has ventured into providing simulation testing for smart glasses and AI devices. Pind said the company is excited to work on wearables that could enhance hearing for users.

"I’m really excited about the next generation of these devices like headphones and smart glasses that can enable [a feature like] superhuman hearing," he said. "That’s an area where you can really just hear better in challenging acoustic environments."

Treble aims to increase its focus in the physical AI space, including robotics, automotive, and drone companies, to enable sound-based functions for them through testing and simulation.

Francois Ruether, VP of Paladin Capital Group, said Treble’s platform stands out because it simulates different models and devices.

"Our thesis is that, as more products depend on understanding sound, this infrastructure becomes increasingly valuable across voice AI, wearables, robotics, and physical AI."

Source: techcrunch