Based in Salzburg, audvice has just closed its first VC financing round with Cusp Capital, CapitalT and TinyVC raising €1.9 million. The female-founded tech startup, launched in 2019, is pioneering corporate communication. Co-investors include CapitalT, TinyVC and the founders of Austrian EdTech Unicorn GoStudent, Felix Ohswald and Gregor Müller.
On a mission to bring effective communication through voice messaging, audvice’s software enables every employee in a company – from CEO to trainee – to easily record voice messages, structure them in playlists and share them with colleagues, customers, or partners.
Audio communication is booming. It’s believed that more than 85% of the population consumes up to three hours of audio content daily. The rising trend of the audio boom was further fueled by the coronavirus pandemic and has grown exponentially amongst millennials and GenZ.
Speaking is the oldest form of human communication and is the most efficient way to explain, converse, and persuade. Voice conveys more authenticity in conversations – listening to someone’s tone of voice is incredibly important in having effective communication.
While audio is booming mostly in social spheres – think WhatsApp voice notes, the growth of podcasts etc – it is still playing a fledgling role in business spheres.
Since the pandemic and the rise of remote and hybrid-based working, it has become even more important for companies to find corporate communication formats that can convey context and emotion to avoid misunderstandings and strengthen bonds with employees – a potential that voice offers, but that companies have hardly used so far.
This is where audvice comes in.
Sophie Bolzer, founder, said: ” audvice gives voice messages a structure to share information easily and effectively across organizations. Speaking is the oldest form of human communication. Especially in times of flexible working, companies need to create and maintain proximity – to their employees, partners or customers. Audio has great potential to achieve this, which companies have yet to exploit.”
As an audio platform for companies, audvice enables enormous efficiency gains. Playlists are used to present extensive information in easily digestible portions and in a structured manner. At the same time, each playlist can be edited, added to or recompiled easily with new voice messages. Audvice is inherently diverse and can be used by companies in a range of ways – from internal briefings to sales training, from onboarding new employees to advertising open positions via audio. Existing playlists can be integrated with audvice into other systems and platforms.
Already being used by companies such as Red Bull and ADAC, the young startup is planning to relaunch as a self-service solution in 2022, allowing any team to easily share information more effectively with voice.