Voila Voice
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Voila Voice - Deal Memo
Status: Active — Pending Founder Call
Summary
- One-liner: AI video translation & dubbing platform for education (TiLT)
- Stage: Pre-seed / Seed
- Raising: $3M Seed, accepting Angel SAFEs ($200K already committed)
- Founders: Zander Mintz (CEO), Abhijit Mishra PhD (CTO)
- Location: Austin, TX
Team
| Name | Role | Background |
|---|---|---|
| Zander Mintz | CEO | MPA from UT Austin (AI Ethics), 8 yrs at GLG (Manager, Advanced Analytics), data analyst & market researcher |
| Abhijit Mishra, PhD | CTO | PhD CS from IIT Bombay (AI/NLP/ML), 2.5 yrs at Apple (Multimodal Dialog Systems), 3 yrs at IBM Research, Asst. Professor at UT Austin iSchool |
Assessment: Strong technical co-founder (CTO). CEO has policy/research background, not traditional startup operator.
Product
TiLT (Teaching in Language & Tone):
- Converts slides/PDFs/notes into AI-narrated video lessons
- Full translation to 30+ languages with voice dubbing
- AI avatars or use your own voice/persona
- Includes quizzes and interactive elements
- Target: Professional training, enterprise L&D, higher ed
Tech Stack:
- Fine-tuned multimodal LLM (Llama 3.1-8B)
- In-house speech AI (Latent Diffusion, ReFlow, F5-TTS)
- 2 patents filed
- Partners: Google for Startups, Microsoft, AWS, NVIDIA Inception
Market
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| TAM | $69.9B (Digital Learning Market) |
| SAM | $5.4B (English → non-English digital teaching content) |
| SOM | $54M (Training & compliance video markets) |
Traction
- LOIs from: Skillodontics, BioPlan Associates, Robotel
- Potential MRR: ~$12K+ if LOIs convert
- No paying customers yet
Competition
- HeyGen, ElevenLabs, Synthesia (generalist AI dubbing)
- Deepgram, AssemblyAI (speech tech)
Differentiation claim: Education-specific features (quizzes, structured lessons, FERPA compliance)
Three Pillar Analysis
Pillar 1: Visionary — TBD (Need Founder Call)
What we know:
- CTO (Abhijit) has deep technical conviction — Apple/IBM/IIT Bombay PhD, now professor
- CEO (Zander) has policy/research background, AI ethics focus
- Vision: Make education globally accessible through AI translation
To assess:
- Can I see their future when they talk?
- Is the conviction inevitable or aspirational?
- Why education vs. generalist dubbing?
- What do they see that HeyGen/ElevenLabs don't?
Verdict: Cannot assess without founder conversation. CTO credentials are excellent.
Pillar 2: 1000X — Possible but Uncertain
Positives:
- TAM > $10B (passes threshold)
- AI translation is inevitable — timing is right
- 2 patents + in-house speech tech = potential moat
- Education niche could be defensible
Concerns:
- Crowded space (HeyGen, ElevenLabs, Synthesia all well-funded)
- Consensus timing — everyone knows AI dubbing is hot
- No paying customers yet — pure pre-revenue
- Unknown valuation — need terms to assess 1000X potential
Verdict: Possible. Education vertical focus could win a segment, but unlikely to beat HeyGen at scale. Need to understand defensibility.
Pillar 3: Kingmaker — Weak Fit
| My Edge | Relevance to Voila Voice |
|---|---|
| CTO network (800+) | Moderate — could help enterprise L&D sales |
| Technical scaling | Weak — CTO is already world-class (Apple/IBM) |
| DeepMind network | Low relevance for this product |
| GTM experience | Moderate — early-stage B2B fit |
Concerns:
- They already have Google, Microsoft, AWS, NVIDIA partnerships
- CTO doesn't need technical help — he's the expert
- My value add would be incremental, not material
Verdict: Weak Kingmaker fit. They may not need what I uniquely provide.
Green Flags
- World-class CTO (Apple + IBM + IIT Bombay PhD)
- Education vertical focus (niche defensibility)
- Patents filed (IP moat)
- Strong accelerator partnerships
- Austin location (UT ecosystem)
Red Flags
- CEO is policy/research background, not operator
- No paying customers (LOIs only)
- Crowded AI dubbing market
- Consensus timing on AI translation
- Kingmaker fit is weak
Key Questions for Founder Call
- Why education specifically? What's the moat vs. HeyGen doing education as a feature?
- Customer acquisition: How will you reach training departments / universities?
- Valuation/terms: What's the cap on the SAFE?
- CEO operator experience: Has Zander led a company before? GTM experience?
- Why now? What changed that makes this the right time?
- What do you need from angels? Where would I add value?
Preliminary Decision
Schedule Founder Call — CTO is impressive enough to warrant a conversation.
Key decision factors:
- Visionary conviction (can only assess in person)
- Valuation/terms (unknown)
- Kingmaker fit (weak on paper, but verify)
If Visionary + Terms are strong: Consider small check ($10-25K) despite weak Kingmaker fit — CTO quality is rare.
If Visionary is weak: Pass. Crowded market without differentiated conviction.
Next Steps
- Search Steven's email for prior communication with zandermintz@voilavoice.io
- Schedule founder call
- Request SAFE terms / cap
Source
- DocSend deck: https://docsend.com/view/ace9939wr4qw4vz7 (PW: Voila)
- Founder email: zandermintz@voilavoice.io
Voila Voice - Contacts
Founders
Zander Mintz (CEO)
- Email: zandermintz@voilavoice.io
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zander-mintz-b7699bb2/
- Location: Austin, TX
Background:
- Manager, Advanced Analytics at GLG (8 years total)
- MPA from UT Austin LBJ School (AI Ethics & Responsible AI concentration)
- Graduate Student Researcher at UT Austin (AI in Public Sector)
- Data analyst, market researcher, computational social scientist
Abhijit Mishra, PhD (CTO)
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhijit-utexas/
- Location: Austin, TX
Background:
- Asst. Professor of Practice, UT Austin School of Information
- Machine Learning Scientist at Apple (2020-2022) - Multimodal/Multilingual Dialog Systems
- Research Scientist at IBM Research India (2017-2020) - NLP, Creative AI
- PhD Computer Science, IIT Bombay (2011-2017) - AI, NLP, ML, Cognitive Science
Company
- Website: https://voilavoice.io
- Company Email: info@voilavoice.com
- Phone: +1 609-235-6538
- Address: 1610 Enfield Road, Unit 102, Austin, TX
Relationship Status
| Date | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-01-15 | Received deck | DocSend link shared |
Deal Source
TBD — Need to check email history
Voila Voice - Notes
2026-01-15: Initial Due Diligence
Source: DocSend deck received
Deck Review (17 slides)
- Product: TiLT - AI video translation/dubbing for education
- Raising: $3M Seed, $200K already committed via SAFEs
- TAM: $69.9B, SAM: $5.4B
- Traction: LOIs from Skillodontics, BioPlan, Robotel (~$12K+ MRR potential)
- Tech: Fine-tuned multimodal LLM, in-house speech AI, 2 patents filed
- Partners: Google for Startups, Microsoft, AWS, NVIDIA
LinkedIn Research
Zander Mintz (CEO):
- 8 years at GLG in analytics/research roles
- MPA from UT Austin (AI Ethics concentration)
- Policy/research background, not traditional operator
- Active in Computational Social Science conferences
Abhijit Mishra (CTO):
- PhD from IIT Bombay (CS - AI/NLP/ML)
- 2.5 years at Apple (ML Scientist - Multimodal Dialog Systems)
- 3 years at IBM Research India (NLP, Creative AI)
- Currently Asst. Professor at UT Austin iSchool
- 4,186 LinkedIn followers - established in AI community
Initial Assessment
- CTO is world-class technical talent
- CEO less clear on operator capability
- Education niche defensible but crowded AI dubbing market
- Weak Kingmaker fit - they have strong partners already
Next Steps
- Search email for prior communication
- Schedule founder call
- Request SAFE terms/cap
Pending Founder Call Notes
(To be filled after call)
Questions to Ask
- Why education vs. generalist?
- Moat vs. HeyGen/ElevenLabs?
- SAFE cap / valuation?
- CEO GTM/operator experience?
- What do you need from angels?