SpeakUnique
SpeakUnique is a Scottish voice-banking company that creates personalised synthetic voices (Voice Build, Voice Repair, Voice Design) for people at risk of losing speech due to conditions like MND, MSA, Cerebral Palsy and head and neck cancer, sold directly and funded through NHS Scotland and a network of condition-specific charities in the UK, Ireland and Australia.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersEdinburgh, United Kingdom
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What SpeakUnique does
SpeakUnique Limited is a Scottish voice-banking company that builds personalised synthetic voices for individuals at risk of losing the ability to speak. The platform accepts voice recordings made through a web client on a consumer laptop with an external microphone (125–150 sentences across multiple sessions) and outputs a downloadable synthetic voice usable on iOS, Android, Windows (SAPI5), and the major specialist AAC hardware lines from Tobii Dynavox, Smartbox, Liberator/PRC and Jabbla, as well as consumer AAC apps such as Predictable and Grid for iPad. Its three core offerings — Voice Build (£175) for unaffected speech, Voice Repair (£250) for mildly to moderately impaired speech, and Voice Design (£300) for unintelligible or absent speech (using up to two blended voice donors) — each are one-time perpetual licences with unlimited device downloads; recording and synthesis are free, with payment only at the download decision.
The business operates a hybrid GTM: a self-serve PLG website/app for recording and purchase, layered with a charity- and NHS-funded B2B2C channel. NHS Scotland covers the cost of voices under Scottish 'Provision of Communication Equipment' legislation, and ten condition-specific charities (MND Association, MND Scotland, IMNDA, MND and Me Foundation, MSA Trust, PSPA, Mouth Cancer Foundation, Ataxia UK, Ataxia Foundation Ireland) fund or refer eligible patients in the UK, Ireland and Australia. Speech and language therapists act as referral and assessment partners; SpeakUnique supports them with trial accounts and co-hosted educational webinars.
SpeakUnique is privately held in Scotland (company number SC615673), reports 1–10 employees, has one undisclosed Old College Capital seed event disclosed, and operates compliantly with UK GDPR for biometric voice data. Its most material recent moves are the September 2023 Next Generation voice upgrade, expansion of funding partnerships into Ireland and Australia, integration with the Predictable app, and the 2025 discontinuation of the 'I Will Always Be Me' service.
SpeakUnique firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- SpeakUnique
- Legal name
- SpeakUnique Limited
- Website
- https://speakunique.co.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- SpeakUnique is a Scottish voice-banking company that creates personalised synthetic voices (Voice Build, Voice Repair, Voice Design) for people at risk of losing speech due to conditions like MND, MSA, Cerebral Palsy and head and neck cancer, sold directly and funded through NHS Scotland and a network of condition-specific charities in the UK, Ireland and Australia.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
SpeakUnique industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Voice Banking Technology
- NAICS
- Other Sound Recording Industries (512290)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- AAC (Augmentative & Alternative Communication) & Speech/Language Therapy Tech (EDAFAKAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Voice Cloning, Dubbing & Audio Generative Media (HDAAAFAK), Assistive Hearing & Communication Access (Captioning, Hearing Support, Transcription) (EDAFAKAC)
Keywords
Where SpeakUnique is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Edinburgh
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
SpeakUnique business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Voice Build - Direct Purchase: One-time purchase of synthetic voice created from unaffected speech. Customer records voice when speech is not yet affected and purchases voice file when ready to use. Voice can be downloaded unlimited times across all platforms.
- Voice Repair - Direct Purchase: One-time purchase for repairing mildly to moderately impaired speech. Creates 5 different versions of repaired voice; customer chooses favorite before purchasing one option.
- Voice Design - Direct Purchase: One-time purchase for creating bespoke voice from old recordings or voice donors. For people with unintelligible speech or those who never had intelligible speech.
- Charity-Funded Voice Purchases: Charity partnerships (MND Association, MND Scotland, PSPA, MSA Trust, Ataxia UK, Mouth Cancer Foundation, etc.) cover full cost of voices for eligible patients. NHS Scotland covers voices for qualifying individuals in Scotland.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Voice Build - For people with unaffected speech |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Voice Repair - For people with mildly to moderately impaired speech |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Voice Design - For people with unintelligible speech or no prior speech |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
SpeakUnique product offering
Product offeringCore offering
SpeakUnique develops and sells voice banking technology that creates personalized synthetic voices from a user's own voice recordings for use in communication aids (AAC devices, iOS/Android apps, Windows SAPI5). The company offers three distinct paid services — Voice Build for individuals with currently unaffected speech, Voice Repair for mildly to moderately impaired speech using a proprietary repair engine, and Voice Design for individuals with no intelligible speech using blended voice donors — each delivered as a one-time purchased voice file with unlimited downloads.
Product overview
SpeakUnique is a voice banking technology company that provides a suite of services enabling people at risk of losing their speech to create and retain personalized synthetic voices. The core portfolio includes Voice Build (for unaffected speech), Voice Repair (for mildly-moderately impaired speech), and Voice Design (for unintelligible or absent speech), each priced at £175, £250, and £300 respectively. The SpeakUnique mobile app enables users to access their synthetic voices on iOS and Android devices. All services support various communication aids and devices including Tobii Dynavox, Smartbox, Liberator/PRC, and Jabbla, as well as Windows SAPI5 and the Predictable app. Recording is free; payment is only required upon downloading the voice.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Voice Build Voice banking service for individuals whose speech is currently unaffected but who face a diagnosis (such as MND/ALS, MSA, PSP/CBD, ataxia, or impending head/neck cancer treatment) that will eventually impair speech. Users record their voice via the SpeakUnique website while speech is still natural and download a personalized synthetic voice file when needed. Recording and voice generation are free; payment is required only on download. Priced at £175 as a one-time perpetual license with unlimited downloads across iOS, Android, Windows, and specialist AAC devices.
- Voice Repair Voice banking service for individuals whose speech has already started to deteriorate but remains partially intelligible. Uses proprietary Voice Repair technology to produce five different repaired synthetic voice variants from which the user selects their preferred version, then purchases it as a one-time perpetual license. Designed for people living with MND/ALS, MSA, PSP/CBD, ataxia, or similar progressive conditions who did not bank their voice earlier. Priced at £250 with unlimited downloads across supported platforms.
- Voice Design Voice creation service for individuals with unintelligible speech or no prior intelligible speech. Builds a bespoke synthetic voice by blending recordings from up to two voice donors matched to the user's desired regional accent, age, and gender, producing a unique voice that sounds like neither donor individually. Suitable for people with Cerebral Palsy and other congenital conditions, and for head and neck cancer patients pre- or post-surgery. Priced at £300 as a one-time perpetual license with unlimited downloads.
- SpeakUnique App Mobile application available on Apple iOS (iPhones and iPads running iOS 12 or later) and Android devices that enables users to access and use their purchased SpeakUnique synthetic voice for text-to-speech communication on consumer smartphones and tablets, with data sync across devices.
Companies that use SpeakUnique
Customer profileSegments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
SpeakUnique technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration9 records
AI capability5 records
Feature4 records
SpeakUnique partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- NHS ScotlandcoreNHS Scotland covers the full cost of SpeakUnique synthetic voices for any individual who could benefit, through Scottish Government's 'Provision of Communication Equipment' legislation. Patients must be assessed by a healthcare professional (e.g., speech and language therapist) to access this funding.
- MND Association (MNDA)coreMND Association funds Voice Build, Voice Repair, or Voice Design for anyone with confirmed MND or Kennedy's Disease diagnosis in England, Northern Ireland, and Wales. Patients apply through SpeakUnique account after listening to voice samples.
- MND ScotlandcoreMND Scotland funds Voice Build, Voice Repair, or Voice Design for people with MND or Kennedy's Disease in Scotland. Patients apply through SpeakUnique account after listening to samples.
- Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association (IMNDA)coreIMNDA offers funding for Voice Build, Voice Repair, and Voice Design for people with MND living in Republic of Ireland who are registered members of IMNDA. Requires healthcare professional or speech therapist contact details to support application.
- MND and Me FoundationcoreMND and Me Foundation offers funding for Voice Build, Voice Repair, and Voice Design for patients living in Queensland, Australia with confirmed MND diagnosis. Requires Client Contact Form and Consent Form if not already registered.
- Mouth Cancer FoundationcoreMouth Cancer Foundation funds Voice Build, Voice Repair, and Voice Design for UK patients at risk of losing their voice through surgery and treatment of head and neck cancers. Requires speech and language therapist contact to support application.
- MSA TrustcoreMSA Trust offers funding for Voice Build and Voice Repair for members living with Multiple System Atrophy in UK and Ireland. Requires registration with Trust and support of Speech and Language Therapist or MSA Health Care Specialist.
- PSPAcorePSPA offers funding for Voice Build, Voice Repair, or Voice Design for those with confirmed diagnosis of PSP (progressive supranuclear palsy) or CBD (corticobasal degeneration) in UK. Scottish residents need healthcare professional to demonstrate why voice cannot be covered by NHS Scotland.
- Ataxia UKcoreAtaxia UK offers funding for Voice Build, Voice Repair, and Voice Design for people with ataxia living in UK. Contact via Ataxia UK Helpline 0800 995 6037 or email [email protected].
- Ataxia Foundation IrelandcoreAtaxia Foundation Ireland offers funding for Voice Build, Voice Repair, and Voice Design for people with ataxia living in Republic of Ireland who are registered AFI members. Patients apply through SpeakUnique account after listening to samples.
- Therapy BoxcoreTherapy Box integrates SpeakUnique personalized voices into their Predictable text-to-speech app for iOS (iPads and iPhones). SpeakUnique voices cannot be used through Predictable on Android devices. Predictable must be purchased separately from Therapy Box.
Scale indicators1 record
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
SpeakUnique competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- ModelTalker: ModelTalker is one of the original voice banking services for people at risk of losing their voice due to conditions like ALS/MND. It offers personalized synthetic voice creation from user recordings and is widely used in the AAC community, making it the most direct head-to-head competitor to SpeakUnique's Voice Build offering.
- VocaliD (now part of Veritone): VocaliD pioneered personalized voice creation blending voice donors for people with unintelligible speech, directly overlapping with SpeakUnique's Voice Design product. Acquired by Veritone, it represents the same donor-blending approach for AAC users with no prior intelligible speech.
- CereProc: CereProc is a Scottish-based AI voice technology company that creates characterful and personalized synthetic voices, including for medical and AAC applications. Like SpeakUnique, it is based in Scotland and serves overlapping voice cloning use cases for both consumer and assistive communication markets.
Broad incumbents
- Apple Personal Voice: Apple's Personal Voice feature, built into iOS 17 and later, allows users to create a synthetic voice from 150 recorded phrases for AAC-style use, directly comparable to SpeakUnique's Voice Build. As a free feature embedded in a consumer platform with massive distribution, it represents the most significant commoditization threat to SpeakUnique's voice banking offering.
- Microsoft Azure Custom Neural Voice: Microsoft's Custom Neural Voice allows organizations to create bespoke synthetic voices from user recordings via Azure Cognitive Services. As a major cloud platform with enterprise reach, it competes for the same voice personalization use cases that SpeakUnique serves in the AAC market.
- Acapela Group: Acapela Group is an established European TTS vendor offering personalized 'my-own-voice' voice banking services for people at risk of losing speech. It competes directly with SpeakUnique in the AAC market and serves many of the same disease-specific customer segments across European geographies.
Emerging players
- ElevenLabs: ElevenLabs is a high-growth voice AI company offering personal voice cloning with very short recording samples. While primarily consumer/creator focused, its technology increasingly overlaps with SpeakUnique's personalization use case and represents a well-funded emerging threat from the broader voice synthesis market.
- Voiceitt: Voiceitt is an Israeli speech recognition company focused on understanding non-standard or impaired speech for AAC users. While primarily tackling the speech-input side rather than voice output, it serves the same AAC user population (including MND and cerebral palsy) and represents an adjacent emerging technology competitor.
Others
- Tobii Dynavox: Tobii Dynavox is a leading AAC device manufacturer whose hardware is compatible with SpeakUnique voices. While not a direct competitor (it sells hardware, not voice banking), Tobii Dynavox is both a critical distribution partner and a potential platform owner that could develop its own voice banking feature, making it a strategically important adjacent player.
- Smartbox Assistive Technology: Smartbox is a UK-based AAC device manufacturer (Grid Pad series) whose products integrate with SpeakUnique voices. Like Tobii Dynavox, it serves as both a key distribution partner and a strategic adjacent player whose own product roadmap could affect SpeakUnique's positioning in the AAC ecosystem.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
SpeakUnique social profiles
Digital presenceSpeakUnique compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
SpeakUnique financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
SpeakUnique leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
SpeakUnique funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
SpeakUnique M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about SpeakUnique
What does SpeakUnique do?
SpeakUnique develops and sells voice banking technology that creates personalized synthetic voices from a user's own voice recordings for use in communication aids (AAC devices, iOS/Android apps, Windows SAPI5). The company offers three distinct paid services — Voice Build for individuals with currently unaffected speech, Voice Repair for mildly to moderately impaired speech using a proprietary repair engine, and Voice Design for individuals with no intelligible speech using blended voice donors — each delivered as a one-time purchased voice file with unlimited downloads.
Is SpeakUnique a public or private company?
SpeakUnique is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was SpeakUnique founded?
SpeakUnique was founded in 2019. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is SpeakUnique based?
SpeakUnique is headquartered in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does SpeakUnique make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Voice Build - Direct Purchase is the primary driver. The others are voice Repair - Direct Purchase, voice Design - Direct Purchase and charity-Funded Voice Purchases.
Who are SpeakUnique's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are ModelTalker, VocaliD (now part of Veritone) and CereProc. Broad incumbents are Apple Personal Voice, Microsoft Azure Custom Neural Voice and Acapela Group. Emerging players are ElevenLabs and Voiceitt. Others are Tobii Dynavox and Smartbox Assistive Technology.
Does SpeakUnique have an API?
No public API is recorded for SpeakUnique.
What industry is SpeakUnique in?
SpeakUnique's product category is Voice Banking Technology. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAFAKAB, AAC (Augmentative & Alternative Communication) & Speech/Language Therapy Tech, with a secondary code of HDAAAFAK, Voice Cloning, Dubbing & Audio Generative Media. Its NAICS code is 512290 and its SIC code is 7372.