Mixhalo has worked with the biggest names in music and sports. Now it’s bringing its super-fast audio platform to conferences and events with AI translation.
Led by Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger and his wife Ann Marie Simpson-Einziger, a renowned violinist, Mixhalo set out to change the way you listen to live music. As it built its platform, used by stars from Aerosmith to Sting, its technology is now set to power AI translation at conferences and events around the world.
Where it began: Mixhalo was born out of an Incubus concert. Einziger and his bandmates had in-ear monitors to capture their sound from the stage, and the band gave an extra headset to a friend that listened to the show from the audience.
“He went out into the crowd, danced around. He said it was an amazing experience,” said Mixhalo CEO John Vars. “He felt like he was on stage with the band.”
That real-time, immersive audio experience led Einziger and his wife to launch Mixhalo, an app built to provide that same level of low-latency, high-quality audio to all concertgoers. The startup’s technology allows for real-time HD audio broadcasts, giving fans concert sound from their own smartphone and headphones without any lag time, Vars said.
The Mixhalo app went on the road with Incubus. Metallica was an early user, along with Aerosmith and Sting. Pharrell and Rick Rubin were among its first investors.
Putting in headphones at a live concert may feel counterintuitive. After all, you’re there to unplug and experience music in the real world. But Mixhalo aims to amplify in-person concerts, Vars said, giving fans a sharper listening experience no matter where they are in the arena.
“If you can get people to do it, it creates front-row behavior,” Vars said. “It collapses the distance to the stage.”
“You’re changing behavior,” he added. “But we found that once people do it, 100% they prefer this experience.”
On top of a better audio experience, Mixhalo also set out to change how you share concert clips on social media. With Mixhalo Moments, the startup lets you take a video from your concert and bring in perfectly timed, studio-quality audio of the performance. The result is a sharable video with audio that’s synched up to the live show, greatly improving the audio quality compared to what a smartphone would typically capture.
Sports evolution: With musicians falling in love with Mixhalo’s app, the startup turned to a new live event audience: sports. The company partnered with Major League Baseball, Nascar and other pro teams and leagues to provide broadcast commentary to fans at live sporting events.
Similar to its music offering, Mixhalo set out to offer a no-lag audio experience for sports fans, giving fans real-time audio from the announcer booth without a delay. In its partnership with Nascar, it also gives fans the ability to listen in to conversations between drivers and their pit crews, providing a new fan experience accessible from your phone and earbuds.
It’s worked with teams like the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, NHL’s Buffalo Sabres and MLS’s Dallas FC.
AI translation: Mixhalo’s next phase of growth will be conferences and other business events, Vars said, where it offers AI audio translation for dozens of different languages. Mixhalo’s Translate product lets conference attendees follow along with presentations in real time, getting translations to their phone just seconds behind a speaker’s talk.
It presents a major business opportunity for Mixhalo, Vars said, as it provides a needed tool to conferences looking to connect with speakers from a broad ranges of nationalities.
“The quality is as high as a human interpreter and the speed is as good or faster,” Vars said of Mixhalo Translate.
The startup believes it’s positioned to offer a complete live events platform that includes live audio, language translation, AI summaries and note taking at conferences.
Funders: Mixhalo’s venture investors include TechNexus, Fortress Investment, L Acoustics, Sapphire Ventures, Founders Fund and others. It has raised around $40 million to date.