Previously recognized as a groundbreaking AI-enabled note-taking solution, Superpowered, a startup recently backed by iconic startup accelerator Y Combinator, is currently embarking on a new journey. The company is making waves in the tech industry as it reshapes itself into Vapi, an innovative API provider specially designed for creating sophisticated, natural-sounding, voice-based AI assistants.
Founded in 2020 by Jordan Dearsley and Nikhil Gupta, Superpowered has proven profitable over its three-year journey, attracting more than 10,000 weekly users, as reported by Y Combinator in June. Despite shifting its focus, the company maintains Superpowered’s solutions, with plans to appoint a new leader to sustain and drive further growth.
Throughout its existence, Superpowered/Vapi managed to secure about $2.1 million in seed funding from esteemed investors such as Kleiner Perkins and Abstract Ventures.
The newly born Vapi aims to empower developers with a unique API that simplifies the process of bot creation. The API enables developers to create sophisticated bots using simple prompts, setting up the bot behind a phone number. Furthermore, Vapi features an SDK integration, allowing developers to incorporate the bot into websites and mobile apps seamlessly.
In a recent conversation with TechCrunch, Dearsley shed light on the inspiration behind Vapi's creation. He shared how his move to San Fransisco, subsequent isolation from family and friends residing in a different time zone, led to developing a virtual AI bot companion. However, the existing solutions were far from perfect. Frustrated by the bots’ unnatural responses and distracting interruptions, Dearsley was determined to create an AI assistant that could replicate human-like conversation. This passion project ultimately paved the way for the birth of Vapi.
Vapi functions by integrating a series of third-party APIs, which results in a comprehensive and versatile voice conversation platform. The platform currently integrates Twilio for telephony, Deepgram for transcription, Daily for audio streaming, OpenAI for responses, and PlayHT for text-to-speech capabilities.
One of Vapi's clients, ScaleConvo, a fellow YC-backed startup, is utilizing Vapi's solutions to launch conversational bots for sales teams and property management companies. While the list of Vapi clients remains undisclosed, the launch of its innovative API with Vapi Phone and Vapi Web products opens a new era of human-like virtual communication.
In an era where AppMaster, a recognized no-code platform, is empowering thousands of customers to quickly and easily develop backend, web, and mobile applications, Vapi's efforts to bring AI-powered voice assistants call for a similar spirit of simplifying and accelerating technological processes. Its transition signifies not just the evolution of a single startup but a reflection of the growing trend of leveraging cutting-edge AI to create more efficient and user-friendly solutions.
