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Feb 19, 2026
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LiveKit Hits $1 Billion Valuation to Build the Voice AI Infrastructure Stack
NewDecoded
3 min read
Image by LiveKit
LiveKit has officially reached unicorn status after securing 100 million dollars in Series C funding at a 1 billion dollar valuation. The investment round was led by Index Ventures, with support from Salesforce Ventures, Hanabi Capital, Altimeter, and Redpoint Ventures. This capital marks a major milestone for the company as it seeks to redefine how computers process and respond to human speech in real time.
The company core mission addresses the limitations of traditional web protocols that rely on HTTP for text data. LiveKit argues that voice AI requires a stateful and realtime infrastructure to handle human conversation without robotic delays. By building a stack specifically for these interactions, they are enabling applications to listen, think, and respond with human-like speed.
Their development suite provides everything from client SDKs to serverless agents and specialized monitoring tools. LiveKit handles the complex loop of speech-to-text, inference, and text-to-speech through a global network of data centers. These systems are designed to minimize latency and ensure that voice agents can function across web, mobile, and traditional phone lines. The technology already powers some of the most visible AI products in the world, including OpenAI’s Advanced Voice Mode. Major enterprises like Tesla and Salesforce are using the platform to automate customer support and roadside assistance. These partnerships validate the shift toward voice-native interfaces in finance, healthcare, and retail sectors. Looking toward 2026, the company anticipates a broad global deployment of voice AI across thousands of use cases. As models improve their ability to handle interruptions and complex tools, the way people use software will change significantly. The goal is to make building voice-native apps as easy and scalable as building for the traditional web.
This funding round signals a pivot in the AI industry away from pure model development toward the reliability of the interface layer. By securing Salesforce as both an investor and a customer, LiveKit is positioning itself as the essential plumbing for the autonomous agent economy. The move suggests that the next phase of AI growth will depend less on the size of the brain and more on the speed and stability of the nervous system connecting it to the user.
