Native Voice

Native Voice is a Denver, Colorado-based company that operates an on-demand voice services ecosystem, described as a library of branded voice assistants that users can invoke directly by voice. The platform is designed so that a user can address a brand's own voice service — examples cited include 'Hey Spotify' and 'Hey Uber' — without first waking a general-purpose assistant such as Alexa, Siri or Google Assistant, and without unlocking a phone and navigating an app. Features include tap-to-talk functionality and always-listening wake-word capability, and the general assistants themselves are included in the library so users can still direct questions to Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant.

The company targets any device with a microphone and speaker, including smartphones, earbuds and other wearables, smart speakers and displays, and automotive systems. Its stated rationale is that brands investing in proprietary voice services face difficulty distributing them across the several hundred audio device brands on the market, and that Native Voice provides the connective layer between those brand services and device makers. The company has said it works with brands in fitness, retail and smart home technology, and has built the 'Hey iHeart' assistant. Named partners include Alexa Voice Services, Skullcandy and iHeart Media.

Founding story

Founder and CEO John Goscha has said the concept grew from observing how his mother and children used Siri for simple device tasks such as toggling Bluetooth or the flashlight, choosing voice because it was faster than navigating settings, while his own peer group defaulted to manual taps. He concluded that users given voice as an option from the outset would choose it, implying a generational shift toward voice interfaces. Goscha describes entrepreneurship as a family trait and started his first business, Goscha Golf, assembling and selling golf clubs in high school.

Business model

Native Voice describes itself as a B2B2C business: it contracts with brands and device manufacturers (OEMs) that in turn market the voice services to end users. Agreements with content partners and OEMs provide licensing income and revenue share on a per-user basis.

Licensing fees and per-user revenue share from content partners and OEMs.

Traction

At the time of its 2021 seed announcement the company reported partnerships with Alexa Voice Services, Skullcandy and iHeart Media, work on unannounced fitness, technology and retail brands, and development of a 'Hey iHeart' assistant. Internally it tracks end-user experience quality across the customer journey via a twice-weekly 'quality dash', along with partner-specific adoption, engagement, sales, acquisition-cost and retention metrics.

Latest developments

In July 2021 the company closed a $14 million seed round and expanded its leadership team with Perry Teevens as Chief Revenue Officer, Jeff Brecker as Chief Marketing Officer, Graeme Harnish as vice president of engineering, and Matthew Klee as head of product. Stated uses of the funding were extending the platform onto more devices, expanding the library of voice services, and proving and scaling the business model.