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Phonic Launches End-to-End Speech-to-Speech Platform for Building Reliable Voice Agents, Announces $4M Funding Raise

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Intelligent decision system and hyperrealistic voices deliver unprecedented reliability for voice AI

SAN FRANCISCO, April 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Phonic, the first end-to-end speech-to-speech platform for building lifelike, reliable conversational voice agents, announced a $4M funding raise from leading investors including Lux Capital and visionary leaders in the AI space including the founders of Replit (Amjad Masad), Hugging Face (Clem Delangue), Applied Intuition (Qasar Younis), and Modal (Erik Bernhardsson).

Voice AI promises to fundamentally transform customer interactions, but reliability issues have held it back. Disconnected systems, and rigid decision trees built for routine conversations, not dynamic edge cases, frustrate customers and force businesses to focus on technical challenges rather than customer needs.

Phonic addresses these challenges through breakthrough innovations: a unified end-to-end platform with direct speech-to-speech processing and an intelligent decision system designed for hyperrealistic and dynamic conversations and support.

“Reliability has been a primary blocker of voice AI adoption,” said Moin Nadeem, Phonic Co-founder and CEO. “By unifying voice generation, recognition, and interaction in one seamless system, we’ve eliminated the complexity of managing multiple tools. Our platform delivers speech in, speech out, with 300ms end-to-end latency, enabling organizations to create hyperrealistic voice experiences that customers actually want to engage with.”

The platform’s intelligent decision system represents a fundamental shift from traditional decision trees, which only handle routine conversations. Phonic’s approach dynamically adapts to unique customer conversations and edge cases, learning from the organization’s previous calls and knowledge base to provide reliable responses across a wider range of interactions.

“Before working with Phonic, we struggled with maintaining our state machine across thousands of calls and navigating complex conversations,” said Sayem Hoque, Founder of Flexbone, an AI data platform for healthcare administration. “After implementing Phonic, we were able to delete significant complexity in our codebase, experience higher voice quality, and achieve better reliability. The reliability and realism are substantially better than what we had before.”

Phonic’s platform can be deployed either via cloud API or on-premises for organizations with strict security requirements. With built-in observability, evaluations and support for custom workflows, it adapts to unique business needs. Already in use by customers in healthcare and insurance, Phonic enables sophisticated voice applications for appointment scheduling, claims processing, and customer inquiry handling.

“The entire industry is struggling with reliably guiding conversations toward task-driven goals,” said Nikhil Murthy, Phonic Co-founder and CTO. “Traditional approaches force organizations to manage rigid decision trees that fail on edge cases. Our intelligent decision system dynamically adapts to each conversation, eliminating the need to manually code for thousands of potential scenarios. Combined with our hyperrealistic voices, we’re delivering voice AI that sounds natural and responds reliably.”

“Voice represents a critical but overlooked frontier in AI development,” said Grace Isford, Partner at Lux Capital. “What excites us about Phonic is their holistic approach to solving voice infrastructure challenges. Instead of incremental improvements to existing methods, they’ve built an entirely new foundation that unifies all aspects of voice AI. This combination of technical innovation and practical implementation perfectly embodies what we look for at Lux.”

About Phonic:

Phonic is the first end-to-end speech-to-speech platform for building lifelike conversational voice agents. By unifying voice generation, recognition, and interaction in one seamless system, we eliminate the complexity of juggling multiple disconnected tools. Our complete solution, with intelligence built into its core, enables organizations to create, evaluate, and observe sophisticated voice interactions that reliably handle task-oriented workflows—allowing businesses to focus on what truly matters: their customers. Founded by Moin Nadeem (MEng, MIT; BS MIT) and Nikhil Murthy (MEng, MIT; BS MIT), Phonic is on a mission to make voice AI finally work for real business needs. Phonic is funded in part by leading investors including Lux Capital, and visionary leaders in the AI space including the founders of Replit (Amjad Masad), Hugging Face (Clem Delangue), Applied Intuition (Qasar Younis), and Modal (Erik Bernhardsson). Phonic is headquartered in San Francisco. For more information or to voice your ideas, visit https://phonic.co/

For press inquiries, contact Jaimen@phonic.co

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SOURCE Phonic, Inc.

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QFocus Technologies Scales Global Engineering Business, Plans to Triple Workforce in 2027 to Support Growing Customer Demand

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BENGALURU, India and SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — QFocus Technologies LLC (QFocus), headquartered in the USA, is strengthening its global engineering operations following continued business growth across its key markets. The company has doubled its customer base to include top OEMs and CMs across AI infrastructure, medical devices and industrial products, adding multiple new customer engagements over the past 12 months.

Since its inception, QFocus has built relationships with leading global organizations across the technology and manufacturing ecosystem, supporting engineering programs for a global electronics manufacturing and supply chain solutions provider, a leading computational software company serving the semiconductor design industry, a frontier AI company advancing AI infrastructure and computing, and a global medical technology company, amongst others.

These customer programs also offer QFocus engineers opportunities to work on real-world engineering challenges for global organizations, gain exposure to international engineering practices and contribute to technologies and products with applications across industries. By working alongside experienced Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and supporting demanding customer requirements, engineers can deepen their technical capabilities while gaining experience across the product development and manufacturing lifecycle.

The company plans to triple the number of its engineers globally over the next 12 months, strengthening its capabilities across AI/ML & software engineering, data science & engineering, ASIC hardware & embedded software design, validation & verification, and manufacturing & quality engineering. The expansion will support QFocus’ growing portfolio of global customer programs while further positioning it as a premier SME-led engineering services provider globally.

Founder & CEO Ajit Chandorkar said, “We see tremendous opportunities to support customers navigating complex development and manufacturing environments. Our delivery model pairs industry-recognized SMEs directly with agile engineering teams, combining strategic foresight with technical execution to address our customers’ most intricate challenges. Expanding our product engineering team alongside our AI capabilities will further strengthen this approach, enabling our customers to accelerate time-to-market, elevate product quality and improve operational efficiency. As we continue to build our engineering capabilities, we remain focused on fostering a high-caliber team that delivers world-class solutions and creates lasting value for our customers.”

QFocus is also continuing to build relationships with academic institutions and engineering partners globally to strengthen its talent pipeline and create opportunities for engineering professionals to work on emerging technology areas.

About QFocus Technologies

QFocus is a US-based design and manufacturing engineering service provider, delivering consulting-led services that help clients achieve faster time-to-market and improved process and product quality. QFocus’ comprehensive service portfolio spans embedded systems & AI, manufacturing/quality engineering, factory data analytics, and operational excellence. QFocus serves clients across Medical & Life Sciences, AI Infrastructure and CE, and Industrial & Transport sectors.

QFocus fosters a vibrant environment of joy, excitement, creativity, and innovation, placing inclusion, empathy, and empowerment for every employee and partner at the heart of its growing culture. We are a team of Go-Getters in the making!

For more information about QFocus and its services, visit www.qfocustech.com or contact ops@qfocustech.com. 

 

 

 

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AULUMU Introduces the ADuo Particle Aramid Fiber Case for iPhone Duo

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1500D aramid fiber meets a universe-inspired particle array, combining technical aesthetics with everyday protection

SHENZHEN, China, Oct. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — AULUMU, the design-driven accessories brand known for blending futuristic aesthetics with functional engineering, introduces the ADuo Particle Aramid Fiber Case for iPhone Duo. Part of the brand’s Particle Series, the new case combines a lightweight 1500D aramid-fiber construction with a distinctive particle-array design, dual-screen protection, and MagSafe compatibility in a slim, technical form.

Inspired by the primordial order of the universe and tactical aesthetics, the ADuo Particle transforms a finely woven surface into a dynamic visual composition. Its precisely arranged particles create a sense of depth and structure, evoking the ubiquitous particles found throughout the universe. The result is a design that balances visual complexity with a restrained, functional aesthetic.

At the core of the ADuo Particle is 1500D aramid fiber, selected for its refined woven texture and lightweight strength. The finely woven material creates a distinctive tactile surface while maintaining a slim profile for everyday carrying. A skin-friendly coating further enhances grip and makes routine cleaning easier, bringing material refinement and practical usability together.

The ADuo Particle is available in two finishes, each interpreting the particle-array concept through a different visual language. Abyss Blue features a UV-processed gradient particle array, creating a sense of depth through a gradual shift in color. Polar Black combines glossy particles with black aramid fabric, producing a subtle interplay of light and shadow that changes with the viewing angle. Together, the two colorways offer distinct expressions of the same technical design language.

Beyond its visual identity, the ADuo Particle integrates a series of protective details designed for everyday use. A full-coverage PC protective frame surrounds the front screen, helping protect its edges and corners. An aluminum-alloy camera guard adds protection around the camera area, while raised edges around the screen and camera help reduce direct contact with surrounding surfaces. These elements complement the slim construction without adding unnecessary visual bulk.

The case also supports compatible MagSafe accessories, extending its functionality beyond basic device protection. Users can pair it with magnetic accessories, including the AULUMU G09 Mag Stand, to create a more flexible setup for everyday work, viewing, and mobile use. By combining magnetic compatibility with a refined aramid-fiber exterior, the ADuo Particle fits naturally into a technical, minimalist everyday carry setup.

The ADuo Particle reflects AULUMU’s ongoing approach to product design: bringing material innovation, functional details, and a distinctive industrial aesthetic into everyday technology accessories. Rather than treating protection and appearance as separate priorities, the case integrates both into a cohesive design built around the character of the device and the needs of daily use.

AULUMU is also developing two additional ADuo Aramid Fiber Case variations: a distinctive all-white edition and a gradient edition inspired by the visual direction of the A18 Ultra Slim Gradient Aramid Fiber Case. Release dates for both versions have yet to be determined.

Available on the AULUMU website for $89.98

What is More

AULUMU is also preparing a special limited version of ADuo Particle Aramid Fiber Case which is the world first All-White Aramid Fiber case. The release date for this case has not yet been determined.

About AULUMU

Founded in 2022, AULUMU is a design brand focused on high-performance gear, drawing inspiration from the functional aesthetics of cyberpunk and the philosophical roots of ancient Greek thought. Since its inception, the brand has launched dozens of digital accessory products, secured multiple utility and invention patents, and received the 2025 Red Dot Design Award. Today, AULUMU products serve hundreds of thousands of users across more than 20 countries and regions, positioning the brand as a growing presence in the global high-performance accessories market.

For more information, visit: https://aulumu.com/, or follow AULUMU on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aulumu_official/

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SOURCE AULUMU

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LianLian Global and PayPal Power Cross-Border Payouts for Social Commerce, Marketplace, and eCommerce Customers

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Social commerce, marketplaces and eCommerce players served by LianLian Global can now pay creators, influencers, developers, and independent contractors directly to their PayPal and Venmo wallets.

NEW YORK, Oct. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — LianLian Global  today announced it has partnered with PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) to enable its social commerce, marketplace and e-commerce clients to send payouts directly to PayPal accounts globally and to Venmo accounts in the U.S.

The creator and gig economy runs on fast, low-friction payouts. Brands are expected to spend $32.6 billion on creators in 2026 and roughly 50 million people worldwide create content professionally or semi-professionally (Gigapay Global Creator Economy Report 2026). Many of these recipients already hold a PayPal or Venmo account: PayPal had over 400 million active accounts across approximately 200 markets at the end of Q2 2026, and Venmo reached 67 million monthly active accounts in Q4 2025.

Paypal Payouts is live in 96 global markets and 24 currencies. It allows merchants to send to any email address, mobile number, or Venmo user handle, with or without an existing PayPal or Venmo account.

To support enterprises expanding globally, LianLian Global provides digital payment services including pay-in, pay-out, acquiring, foreign exchange, virtual cards and payment aggregation. To date, its parent company Lianlian DigiTech has served more than 13.3 million clients. Its services reach more than 200 countries and regions, support transactions and settlement in more than 140 currencies, and connect with more than 180 global e-commerce platforms.

The partnership combines LianLian Global’s cross-border collection, FX and compliance infrastructure with PayPal’s global wallet network. Key offerings include:

Pay to PayPal: Payouts from LianLian Global clients to PayPal account holders in 96 markets, using only the recipient’s email or phone numberPay to Venmo: Domestic U.S. payouts to Venmo users, including creators, influencers and independent contractorsPayPal Payouts for Platforms: Mass disbursements for social commerce, marketplaces and affiliate platforms paying large numbers of sellers, creators and contractorsSpeed to settle: Save time and money by eliminating check runs and postage; no need for routing numbers and bank accounts.

Sandra Lam, Deputy CEO of US at LianLian Global: “Social commerce is creating a new economy, where creators, influencers and independent sellers drive discovery and sales alongside the platforms they sell on. Paying these participants fast, across borders and in small amount is what powers the network effect of social commerce. We see our work with Paypal as a key step in building the payout rails for the global gig economy.”

The collaboration expands LianLian Global’s payout coverage and supports its growth in the U.S. and global markets as cross-border platforms scale their creator and contractor programs.

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SOURCE LianLian Global

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