About Descript
Descript is a Media & Entertainment company based in San Francisco (United States) founded in 2017 by Andrew Mason. Automated transcribing solution provider for audio files. It operates in the Media & Entertainment and Technology sectors. Descript has raised $100.59 million across 4 funding rounds from investors including OpenAI, Andreessen Horowitz and Redpoint Ventures. Descript has completed 2 acquisitions, including Lyrebird and SquadCast. Its chief executive, as recorded, is Andrew Mason. Its website descript.com draws about 3.5 million monthly visits. Descript offers products and services including Video Editor, Podcasting Tool, Transcription Service, and AI Avatars. Its focus areas include Radio Tech, Internet Radio & Podcast, Enablers and Diversified. Its legal entity is DESCRIPT, INC. Its competitors include Otter.ai, Deepgram and Verbit; 3 of its 3 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
Descript was established in 2017 in San Francisco, United States, within the speech recognition and transcription sector. Automated and manual services for transcribing audio and video files are offered, enabling quick processing through advanced technology. Transcripts can be corrected manually, with audio adjustments made inversely via text editing. Collaboration features, including comments, are included for team use. Human transcription is billed per minute.
- Headquarters San Francisco, United States
- Founders Andrew Mason
- SectorsMedia & EntertainmentTechnology
- Website category Computers Electronics and Technology
- Website descript.com
- Social LinkedIn X Facebook YouTube
- Legal Name Descript, Inc.
Products & Services of Descript
Descript offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, including Video Editor, Podcasting Tool, Transcription Service, and AI Avatars.
Enables text-based editing of videos with AI enhancements.
Facilitates multitrack audio editing like text documents.
Automatically transcribes audio with high accuracy.
Creates custom avatars for video content.
Apps and channels of Descript
its YouTube channel Descript has 44.9K subscribers and 30 videos.
Videos from Descript
The most watched videos on Descript's YouTube channel, Descript (44.9K subscribers). Click a video to play it here.
More on Descript.
Funding Insights of Descript
Descript has successfully raised a total of $100.59M across 4 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Series C round of $50.59 million completed in November 2022. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $100.59M
- Total Rounds 4
- Last Round Series C — $50.59M
- First Round $5M
(Dec 2017)
- Investors Count 26
All 4 funding rounds of Descript with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2022 | $50.59M | Series C | – | OpenAI | |
| Jan 2021 | $30M | Series B | – | Spark Capital | |
| Sep 2019 | $15M | Series A | – | a16z, Redpoint Ventures | – |
| Dec 2017 | $5M | Series A | – | – |
26 investors in total: 5 institutional and 21 angel.
Investors in Descript
Descript has secured backing from 26 investors, including institutional, venture fund, and angel investors. Prominent investors backing the company include OpenAI, Andreessen Horowitz and Redpoint Ventures.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Venture capital investments in technology sectors are handled by Andreessen Horowitz. | a16z.com | |||
Redpoint Ventures is engaged in venture capital investments. | redpoint.com | Woodside, United States | ||
Spark Capital is engaged in venture capital investments. | sparkcapital.com | San Francisco, United States | ||
OpenAI is engaged in developing advanced artificial intelligence technologies. | 2015 | openai.com | San Francisco, United States | |
A company focused on building safe superintelligence solutions. | dcgross.com | |||
DG Daniel Gross | Co-founder of Cue, AI pioneer, active angel investor in tech startups. | unknown_ca923342de4945a99 | ||
NH Nabeel Hyatt | Venture capitalist at Spark Capital, ex-entrepreneur, active angel investor | unknown_a71e845cdc6f40568 | ||
AB Alex Blumberg | Angel investor, ex-Gimlet Media founder, podcasting pioneer, active in media startups | unknown_fc7b7918658441888 | ||
EW Ev Williams | Co-founder of Twitter and Medium, prominent angel investor in tech startups. | unknown_112e18f49c7245749 | ||
RV Rahul Vohra | Founder of Superhuman, angel investor, focused on tech startups | unknown_8f5e7d6515da4ad6a |
Investor details for Descript
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
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People of Descript
3 people are tracked at Descript (1 in leadership, 2 in board & advisors).
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Andrew Mason | Founder & CEO | Leadership |
Alastair Rampell | Board Member | Board & advisors |
Nabeel Hyatt | Board Member | Board & advisors |
Complete people profiles for Descript
Full employee and board profiles, team structure, tenure and professional contact details require an active premium plan.
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Investments & Acquisitions by Descript
Descript has strategically engaged in corporate development activities, having acquired 2 companies. Notable acquisitions include Lyrebird and SquadCast.
| Company Name | Description | Domain | Location | Founded | Acquired | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
High-quality remote audio for podcasts is enabled via a platform. | squadcast.fm | California, United States | 2017 | Aug 2023 | •••• | |
Speech synthesis from audio clips is enabled for developers. | lyrebird.ai | Montreal, Canada | 2017 | Sep 2019 | •••• |
Complete acquisition details for Descript
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Timeline of Descript
Competitors of Descript
Descript has 3 listed competitors in our database, 3 of them funded. They include Otter.ai, Deepgram and Verbit.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| otter.ai | 2016 | Los Altos, United States | $70M | AI-based voice transcription for meetings is provided via cloud software. | ||
| deepgram.com | 2015 | San Francisco, United States | $85.92M | 107 | AI-based speech transcription software is provided using deep learning models. | |
| verbit.ai | 2017 | New York, United States | $550M | 535 | Speech recognition applications are developed via cloud-based AI platform. |
Detailed competitors of Descript
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Web traffic of Descript
The website of Descript (descript.com) receives about 3.5M visits a month and ranks #13,830 among all websites worldwide, #1,871 in Computers Electronics and Technology.
- Monthly visits3.5M
▲ 5.5% vs previous month
- Unique visitors1.3M
per month
- Global rank#13,830
among all websites
- Category rank#1,871
Computers Electronics and Technology · Computers Electronics and Technology
- Bounce rate37%
- Pages per visit5.7
- Average visit3 min 49 sec
- DevicesDesktop 70% · Mobile 30%
Websites whose visitors overlap most with Descript. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| riverside.fm | 100% | 162.9K | #31,844 | View details | |
| opus.pro | 93% | 5.4M | #9,677 | View details | |
| veed.io | 86% | 13.3M | #2,659 | View details | |
| otter.ai | 86% | 7.2M | #8,121 | View details | |
| speechify.com | 83% | 6.2M | #8,677 | View details | |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
All 40 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Descript
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- 40 similar websites
- Audience overlap
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Top companies in Radio & Podcast
3 companies that operate in the same segment as Descript (Radio & Podcast) in United States, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Broadcast radio channels are aggregated and streamed through subscriptions. | 2002 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 98.35 M | |||
Personalized internet radio stations and playlists are streamed for users. | 2000 | Webster, New York, United States | USD 56.1 M | |||
Podcast streaming platform | 2016 | West Hollywood, California, United States | USD 15.72 M |
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Related news about Descript
Complete news archive for Descript
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Frequently Asked Questions about Descript
Descript was founded in 2017.
Descript is headquartered in San Francisco, United States. It is registered at San Francisco, California, United States.
Andrew Mason is the CEO of Descript, as recorded in our data. They have also founded this company.
Descript is a funded company, having raised a total of $100.59M across 4 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Series A of $5M, raised on Dec 2017.
Descript was established in 2017 in San Francisco, United States, within the speech recognition and transcription sector. Automated and manual services for transcribing audio and video files are offered, enabling quick processing through advanced technology. Transcripts can be corrected manually, with audio adjustments made inversely via text editing. Collaboration features, including comments, are included for team use. Human transcription is billed per minute.
Descript offers Video Editor, Podcasting Tool, Transcription Service, and AI Avatars.
Descript has 26 investors. Key investors include OpenAI, Andreessen Horowitz, Redpoint Ventures, Spark Capital, and Safe Superintelligence Inc.
Descript operates through Descript, Inc..
The website of Descript receives about 3.5 million visits a month and ranks #13,830 among all websites worldwide.