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Supertone

Category: Voice / Speech AI

Supertone is an AI voice company that develops technology for creating hyper-realistic and expressive voices, including singing voices. The company's technology can be used for various applications, such as content creation, entertainment, and virtual assistants. Supertone was founded in 2020. The company is led by Hoon Heo. Based in Seoul, South Korea. Team size: Approximately 60-70 employees. Total funding raised: Approximately $35.6 million (acquired by HYBE). Latest round: Acquisition, $36.5M, 2023-01, led by HYBE. Key investors include HYBE, Big Hit Entertainment, CJ E&M.

Founded
2020
Headquarters
Seoul, South Korea
Team size
Approximately 60-70 employees
Total funding
Approximately $35.6 million (acquired by HYBE)

Value proposition

Supertone provides a full-stack Voice Intelligence Platform spanning pre-production (Play TTS), production (Shift voice changer), and post-production (Clear de-noise, Air reverb/EQ match), with on-device (Supertonic) and API options for creators and enterprises.

Products and solutions

Supertone Play, Supertone Shift, Supertone Clear, Supertone Air

Unique value

Full voice AI pipeline from TTS to real-time voice changing to post-production audio cleanup. On-device TTS (Supertonic) runs without server GPUs. 23-language support. Voice cloning in 10 seconds. Strong voice security and ethical AI focus.

Target customer

Content creators, entertainment companies, gaming studios, voice actors, enterprise businesses, and developers (API/SDK).

Industries served

Entertainment, Media, Gaming

Technology advantage

Supertone's core technology includes NANSY (Neural Analysis & Synthesis) foundation model, Sona Speech 2 (23-language TTS), and Supertonic (on-device ultra-fast TTS). Voice cloning in 10 seconds via Play. Voice security technology.

How they differentiate

Supertone's technology is distinguished by its ability to create hyper-realistic and expressive voices, including singing voices, which is a rare capability in the market. The company also emphasizes its 'voice security' technology to prevent misuse of its AI-generated voices.

Main competitors

Respeecher, Voicemod, Descript

Key partnerships

HYBE, AWS, Big Ocean, Jeong Jae-heon, Shin Kyung-sun, K-FAST AI Dubbing Project

Notable customers

HYBE, Big Ocean, AWS, Jeong Jae-heon (voice actor), Shin Kyung-sun (voice actor)

Major milestones

Acquired by HYBE for ~$36.5M (2023)., Launched Supertone Play TTS platform (Feb 2025) — 310K users, 6.2M sentences generated., Launched Supertone Shift 2.0 real-time voice changer., Launched Supertone Air (reverb/EQ match plugin)., Launched SYNDI8 virtual girl group., AWS Marketplace listing and K-FAST AI Dubbing Project across 22 countries., Supertonic on-device TTS became #1 on Hugging Face TTS category., HYBE resolved to dissolve/liquidate Supertone (EGM Jul 15 2026, DART Jul 23 2026), Shift/Clear/Air explored for external transfer.

Growth metrics

Supertone Play reached 310K cumulative users and generated 6.2M sentences by Dec 2025. Used in 217+ countries. Supertonic became #1 in Hugging Face TTS category. Sona Speech 2 supports 23 languages.

Market positioning

Formerly a HYBE-owned AI voice synthesis company (majority stake 2023); wound down and placed into liquidation in July 2026 as part of HYBE AI strategy realignment after weak revenue (~KRW 2.3B) and large operating losses. Product lines (Shift, Clear, Air) reportedly shopped to external buyers.

Geographic focus

Global presence with strong Asian base. Used in 217+ countries. AWS Marketplace listing enables global enterprise reach. K-FAST project expanding Korean content across 22 countries. Strong engagement in Japan for Shift.

Patents and IP

Supertone holds several patents related to its core technologies, including voice synthesis, voice cloning, and voice security.

About Hoon Heo

Hoon Heo (허훈) is Co-founder of Supertone and formerly CTO; previously an engineer at Samsung Electronics. He co-founded the company in March 2020 with Kyogu Lee and led technical development of voice synthesis/conversion products (Shift, Clear, Air). Listed as CEO on the company site during the 2026 wind-down/liquidation.

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