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Startup bringing machine learning to audio transcription raises $3.5m

London-based audio to text transcription startup Trint has raised $3.5m to support the continued development of its machine-learning powered platform.

The pre-Series A round in the company, which was co-founded by Emmy award winning journalist Jeff Kofman, was led by a seed fund overseen by Hong Kong’s Horizon Labs, with tech entrepreneur Bart Swanson heading up proceedings alongside contributions from a line-up of execs and founders.

These included former LexisNexis Chief Executive, Andy Prozes; the former Regional Vice President of Yahoo Europe Mark Opzoomer, and Belgian investors Lorenz Bogaert and Toon Coppens.

Trint utilises machine learning to partly automate the transcription of audio and video files, a godsend for journalists across the globe, with an intuitive interface that makes it easier to tweak and brush up the text when the system produces transcription errors.

Kofman said that the startup was ‘thrilled’ to obtain the backing of what he described as a ‘stellar’ lineup of investors, in quotes reported by Tech City News.

Speaking about the potential of the tech, which launched back in September 2016 following backing from Google Digital News Initiative and BBC Worldwide amongst others, Kolman believes the platform has the potential to transform a range of sectors.

He said: “As someone who has spent thousands of hours of my life transcribing interviews, I know first-hand how Trint will completely transform not just news production but dozens of fields that rely on transcription – from marketing and medicine to academia and law.”

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