Descript Raises $50 million in Series C Led by OpenAI

Descript, the audio and video editing platform founded in 2017 has raised $50 million in a Series C round led by the OpenAI Startup Fund.

Descript is the second startup to receive a cash infusion from the fund after AI note-taking app Mem. Among Descript's other investors are Andreessen Horowitz, Redpoint Ventures, Spark Capital and ex-Y Combinator partner Daniel Gross.

I founded Descript with the idea of building a simple, intuitive, fully-powered editing tool for video and audio — an editing tool built for the age of AI. We’re on the verge of a generational change in the way we create content — fueled by AI. That includes the kind of tools like creators are already using in Descript, and emerging stuff like generative AI. The challenge for companies like ours is how to make that technology useful and accessible,

Andrew Mason, founder of Descript, tole TechCrunch.

According to a report from The Information in October, OpenAI had agreed to lead funding valuing Descript at around $550 million, over double the startup’s valuation as of January 2021 ($260 million).

Originally, Descript was created as a spin-off of Andrew Mason’s audio-guide business Detour, acquired by Bose in 2018.