Verbit Acquires U.S. Captioning to Widen AI-Powered Speech-To-Text in Media
Voice AI transcription developer Verbit has acquired media captioning firm U.S. Captioning for an undisclosed sum. The purchase continues Verbit’s spending spree in new verticals and locations after raising $250 million in a funding round in November.
Verbit Caption Capture
Verbit’s AI offers real-time transcription of human speech supplemented by human editors. The customizable platform leverages industry and client-specific speech models to improve accuracy even before any human checking and editing. The final version is 99.9% accurate, according to Verbit. Though the company initially focused on the legal and higher education markets, its client list now reaches into several other verticals, particularly broadcast media. The 23-year-old U.S. Captioning fits right into that strategy, as it provides some of the biggest U.S. broadcasters and programmers as clients, including the Sinclair Broadcast Group. The company performs both real-time services and post-production captioning in more than 45 languages.
“We’re thrilled to join forces with Verbit and add our loyal customers, professional experience and capabilities to its broad portfolio of captioning and transcription offerings,” said Beth Aschenbrenner, President and CEO, U.S. Captioning. “We’ll also now have access to the Verbit Company’s highly accurate technologies and capabilities, which our customers will greatly benefit from as well.”
Verbit Purchase
The $250 million funding came six months after a $157 million round for Verbit. Verbit’s total funding is now more than $550 million, with a reported $100 million in annual revenue and a valuation of more than $2 billion. Both rounds have been followed by a lot of acquisitions. This is the third after Verbit bought British market research transcription and captioning service Take Note in March and acquired education and government-focused transcription provider Automatic Sync Technologies (AST) in December. It’s also only been a year since Verbit bought captioning tech provider VITAC.
“The addition of U.S. Captioning and its national TV station customers into the Verbit fold advances us as the essential partner to deliver on every captioning and transcription need of the media and entertainment industry,” Verbit CEO Tom Livne said. “I’m excited to continue consolidating the fragmented transcription market through this latest global expansion effort.”
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Verbit Acquires UK Market Research Transcription Provider Take Note
Verbit Acquires Education-Centered Transcription Firm Automatic Sync Technologies
