German AI translation company DeepL has acquired San Francisco-based Mixhalo, a real-time audio platform specialising in live event translation, marking a significant expansion of DeepL’s voice AI ambitions beyond its text translation roots.
Mixhalo was founded in 2016 by Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger, violinist Ann Marie Simpson-Einziger, and Vik Singh, who serves as CEO. Originally built to enhance the concert listening experience, the company evolved into a platform powering real-time audio for sports and live events, raising over $39 million from investors including Fortress Investment, Founders Fund, Defy Partners, and Cowboy Ventures.
DeepL CEO Jarek Kutylowski said Mixhalo would function both as a product solution and a showcase for DeepL’s technology in high-pressure, real-world environments such as conferences, where live multilingual translation has historically been difficult to deliver at scale. As part of the acquisition, DeepL is opening a Bay Area office to strengthen its US operations.
Singh said the combination was a natural fit, noting that Mixhalo had long relied on DeepL as its primary translation provider. He added that as large AI model companies scaled, they would increasingly encroach on Mixhalo’s pricing territory, making partnership with a specialist translation platform strategically preferable.
DeepL launched voice-to-text translation across 33 languages in 2024 and introduced a voice-to-voice suite earlier this year. The Mixhalo acquisition now extends that capability into the live events sector.
