Twilio is a cloud communications platform that turns telephone networks, SMS, email, and messaging apps into a few lines of code. Through programmable APIs for voice, messaging, email, and identity verification, plus a customer data platform built on its Segment acquisition, Twilio lets developers and enterprises embed communication and customer engagement directly into their software. More than 400,000 active customer accounts, including roughly 90% of the Fortune 500, build on it.
Bin 'Tony' Zhao is the founder, CEO, and Chairman of Agora (NASDAQ: API), the Real-Time Engagement Platform-as-a-Service he built after 20 years on the frontlines of internet voice and video - from being a founding engineer at WebEx to CTO of JOYY with 300 million users. Founded in 2013, Agora now powers over 80 billion minutes of real-time engagement monthly, supplied the audio backbone for Clubhouse's viral moment, and in 2025 launched a Conversational AI Engine bridging human voice and large language models.
Willow is a San Francisco-based AI voice dictation startup that replaces the keyboard with voice input across any app. Built by two Stanford dropouts, the product delivers sub-500ms latency, 40%+ higher accuracy than built-in dictation tools, and context-aware transcription that handles technical jargon and proper nouns. Backed by Y Combinator and a $4.5M seed round, Willow targets knowledge workers - engineers, managers, sales teams - helping them type 4x faster by speaking naturally. Enterprise customers include Uber, Gusto, Canva, and GitHub.
ElevenLabs is an AI research and product company that builds human-like voice technology. Founded in 2022 by two Polish engineers frustrated by badly dubbed movies, it grew from zero to $200M ARR in three years and reached an $11 billion valuation by February 2026. Its platform covers text-to-speech, voice cloning, AI dubbing, conversational agents, and speech-to-text across 70+ languages, used by everyone from independent creators to over 60% of Fortune 500 companies.