Wondercraft, a platform building the ‘Canva of audio’, has raised $3m from backers including Y Combinator and Steven Bartlett.
The technology enables anyone to create studio-quality audio productions – whether it’s for podcasts, ads, audiobooks, meditations or training materials – in any language, by simply typing.
The company was founded by Palantir engineers Dimitris Nikolaou and Youssef Rizk, and Oskar Serrander, former COO at Acast and executive at Spotify and iHeartmedia.
Wondercraft users can add professional audio to a huge range of creative projects, with templates ready to transform blogs into podcasts, articles into audiobooks, and advertising copy into marketing campaigns.
The tools and templates offer custom AI script assistants, professional music, video generation and ultra-realistic AI voices to help users create great-sounding listening experiences. With no need for a studio, mics, mixing equipment or editing software, studio-quality audio can be created in minutes and at a fraction of the traditional cost.
There’s also a tool to seamlessly translate and dub new or existing projects into 15+ languages using AI and supported by a team of 100+ language experts who edit, validate and quality assure each translation.
Dimitris Nikolaou, co-founder, comments: “Canva made everyone a designer – we want to empower everyone to be an audio creator.
“Audio is an integral part of people’s media habits today, yet many gifted storytellers are held back by limited tools, production resources and translation services.
“The incredible breakthrough in human-like synthetic voices, pioneered by our partners at ElevenLabs, was the catalyst for us to pursue our vision of a creative platform dedicated to audio.”
Oskar Serrander, co-founder, adds: “With Wondercraft, we are making professional audio more approachable. Not only is this great for the growing number of independent creators out there, but also for large media publishers looking to scale their content production and for advertising businesses searching for better tools.
“For the first time, we are also making translations and professional dubbing affordable and efficient so content producers can finally expand into new languages; building new fanbases and revenue. We are dedicated to leveraging AI thoughtfully and ethically to empower both well-established and brand-new voices to be heard across borders.”
After launching in beta in 2023, the company already has over 30,000 creators, writers, entrepreneurs, advertisers and brands. The technology is also powering dozens of the biggest titles in podcasting, including Diary of A CEO and CoinDesk podcasts network.
Steven Bartlett, host of Diary of A CEO, comments: “Wondercraft has given us tools that have enabled us to reach new global audiences in new languages. I believe their product is the future of audio production for creators and publishers so I couldn’t be more excited to be on board.”
Jared Schwartz, Executive Producer, Coindesk: “Wondercraft has been a great addition to our workflow at CoinDesk Podcasts.
“We’ve been able to integrate the technology into our shows for a more efficient process without sacrificing quality. With our growth strategy to build out the CoinDesk Podcast Network, I see Wondercraft as an important partner in leveraging the very best in AI Voice for our needs.”
Following initial funding from Y Combinator, this round was led by Will Ventures and joined by voice research lab ElevenLabs and host of the Diary of A CEO podcast Steven Bartlett.
The investment will be used to further build out the capabilities of the platform and expand the features available to Wondercraft’s users.
Find out more on the Wondercraft website.
