Lucida AI closes $7M seed round for speech-to-speech AI

Lucida AI, a speech-to-speech AI platform for global communication, has secured an additional $1.6 million in funding, bringing its seed round to $7 million. The seed round was led by UK-based Velocity Capital, with participation from Next Tier Ventures, Look AI Ventures, Bogazici Ventures, Yapı Kredi Frwrd Ventures and Ünlü & Co. The company had announced the initial $5.4 million close of its seed round a few months ago.

As communication increasingly spans multiple languages and cultures, spoken fluency and confidence play a growing role in how effectively people interact. Founded by Mustafa Girgin and M. Sait Demirci, Lucida AI develops speech-native AI technology designed to help individuals and businesses improve spoken communication through real-time, AI-powered conversations.

Powered by its proprietary Speech Language Model (SLM), the platform enables users to speak naturally with AI without relying on text prompts or scripted exercises. It adapts conversations to each user's proficiency level, providing instant feedback on fluency, pronunciation and clarity while simulating real-world situations ranging from everyday interactions to business meetings, presentations and client calls.

Lucida AI is available as a mobile application for individual users and also offers enterprise deployments with on-premises hosting and end-to-end encryption.

Since launching 15 months ago, the company says it has grown to more than 3 million users and generated over 2.2 billion minutes of spoken interaction across Europe, the United States and emerging markets.

AI is becoming a global race, and meaningful innovation is no longer tied to a single geography. With this round, we've partnered with investors who share our long-term vision. Our focus is clear: building a scalable, speech-native AI platform that powers global communication,

said Mustafa Girgin and M. Sait Demirci, co-founders of Lucida AI.

The funding will support Lucida AI's expansion into new languages and markets, further development of its proprietary speech-to-speech AI infrastructure, growth of its enterprise offering and continued product development.