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Audio Tech Company Audience Files For $75 Million IPO

Audience, the self described “leading provider of intelligent voice and audio solutions that improve voice quality and the user experience in mobile devices,” has filed its S-1 to raise $7...
Audio Tech Company Audience Files For $75 Million IPO
Written by Josh Wolford
  • Audience, the self described “leading provider of intelligent voice and audio solutions that improve voice quality and the user experience in mobile devices,” has filed its S-1 to raise $75 million in its IPO.

    Audience is backed by Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, whose Vulcan Capital is the third largest shareholder in the company (25%). Tallwood Venture Capital holds 32% share and New Enterprise Associates holds 30% share.

    You might know Audience as the makers of earSmart, “the world’s most intelligent voice processor.” earSmart technology works to replicate how humans hear, by differentiating different sounds and enhancing voice sounds while keeping background noise in the background.

    Basically, earSmart aims to improve mobile conversations in loud places.

    earSmart is currently available in over 60 mobile devices, including the HTC Titan, Samsung Galaxy S II, Google Nexus One, and HTC Vivid.

    From the S-1 filing:

    We were founded in 2000 and initially targeted the rapidly growing mobile device market, including mobile phones, media tablets and mobile PCs. We began production shipments in 2008 and, as of December 31, 2011, had sold over 135 million processors to our OEM customers. In addition to the mobile device market, we believe that our voice and audio technology is applicable to a broad range of other market segments, including automobile infotainment systems, digital cameras, digital televisions, headsets and set top boxes. We outsource the manufacture of our voice and audio processors to independent foundries and use third parties for assembly, packaging, test and logistics. We had total revenue of $2.5 million, $5.7 million, $47.9 million and $79.7 million for 2008, 2009, 2010 and the nine

    [Hat Tip to GeekWire]

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