Big news: BLEND has acquired GM Voices!

Yair Tal

June 15 , 2021 · 6 min

Today marks an exciting day at BLEND. We are proud to announce BLEND has acquired GM Voices.

Atlanta-based GM Voices, founded in 1985, is a global leader in professional voice-over solutions for all voice-enabled technologies, applications, and markets. We couldn’t be happier to welcome the talented GM Voices team into the BLEND family

Back in 2020, we at BLEND (formerly known as OneHourTranslation) redefined our company mission – to remove cross-border barriers for growth-stage companies and brands who are seeking global expansion. It was COVID-19 that urged the business world to grow globally. While many businesses can easily go digital and global, they are missing this vital component that helps them become truly local.

The addition of GM Voices brings us one step closer to realizing that vision, adding more than 35 years of voice-over experience to BLEND’s one-stop-shop of end-to-end localization solutions while supporting our clients with all their needs.

Just three months ago, we revealed our new vision and renewed brand – BLEND, along with announcing our latest round of funding. Today, we’re adding our first significant acquisition as part of an ambitious growth plan and one of many new strategic initiatives.

Having witnessed the rapid rise of social audio and voice-based communications, valued in billions, and seeing an increasing demand for multilingual voice localization among global brands…GM Voices proved to be the next strategic step.

We got to know GM Voices through joint projects and several mutual happy customers.

The decision to acquire the company was made after meeting their talented team, viewing their cutting-edge product capabilities, and assessing the various mutual opportunities for collaboration.

GM Voices brings a global roster comprising thousands of voice actors in more than 100 languages and dialects, 35 years of experience, and notable projects like the original voice of Siri and Alexa, to name a few.

Making it work together.

My personal experience with several M&As has taught me a number of lessons that can significantly influence the success of such a deal. Hence, we spent a good deal of time assessing what I call the double P factors:

People – people fit: This factor adds an additional reminder that it’s all about people. While you can bring the greatest technologies and products together, it’s the people behind them who will ultimately determine joint success. Throughout the ‘getting to know you’ process, we assessed the cultural compatibility and fit between our teams… and we found a match!
With BLEND’s company’s headquarters in Tel Aviv and offices in eight cities around the world, we pride ourselves on the diversity of our employees. Add to that our customer-centric approach and our commitment to innovation as the pillars of our company values. We were thrilled to find a strong appreciation for that same value set amongst the GM Voices team.

Product – product fit: Much like product-market fit, which is essential when establishing a new company, the product-product fit is essential when buying an existing company. It is vital to ensure that each company’s offerings serve to complement one another, providing greater potential value to each company’s individual customer base.
In our case, there is no doubt that the customers of each company can benefit from the expertise and capabilities of one another. Now boasting the latest audio and dubbing capabilities, BLEND is truly a one-stop-shop for localization helping enterprises and global companies natively weave their brands into fundamentally different markets worldwide.

Together, we look forward to disrupting the localization space.

To our valuable customers of both BLEND and GM Voices, we want you to know that you are our first priority! Continuing to operate independently, we will continue to provide the same level of service and attention to your ongoing projects. By joining forces, we will be able to optimize your experience with us, serving you as locally as possible with more and more services that will allow you to operate faster and with the best quality.

We prepared some answers to frequently asked questions below to provide you with more details and information about this acquisition.

If you still have any questions or requests, I invite you to contact me personally via email at yair [at] getblend.com.

We can’t wait for what lies ahead. Thank you for being a part of our journey.

Let’s get started!

Yair Tal, CEO

Click to Tweet, if you are as excited as we are to share the news!

FAQ and more information about the GM Voices Acquisition

I’m really busy. Quickly, what do I need to know?

BLEND has acquired GM Voices, a global provider of professionally recorded voice-over solutions for all types of technologies, applications, and multimedia.

With this addition, BLEND is now equipped to localize every type of asset/content that will help you grow your business effectively.
In March, BLEND raised $10 million from Fortissimo, a leading private equity firm. GM Voices is our first acquisition and is a testament to a broader commitment of enhancing our solutions portfolio and strengthening our foothold as an end-to-end multimarket enabler.

OK, you’ve piqued my interest. Now, with a little more detail, who is GM Voices?

In business since 1985, GM Voices has developed and recorded many of the voices that assist you virtually (like the original Siri), greet and guide you over the phone, navigate you in your car, and explain the company you’re considering doing business with on the Web. With a worldwide roster of thousands of voice actors in over 100 languages and dialects, GM Voices helps companies speak the language and tell a more effective story with local market credibility—focusing on quality, casting, and a recording schedule that fits any business need.

I’m an existing customer. What changes for me?

You’ve already entrusted BLEND with previous mission-critical translation/localization projects. Now, we’re ready to take your messaging one step further with top-notch, in-house audio localization talent and technologies. GM Voices brings a global roster comprising thousands of voice actors in more than 100 languages and dialects, 35 years of experience and notable projects like the original voice of Siri and Alexa, to name a few.

If you only need your tried-and-true localization services going forward, great. But just know we’re ready to deliver on all your audio-visual content as well should the need ever arise.

To explore our voice and audio offering, reach out to us via [email protected]

What a coincidence. I’m in the market for a voice provider. But why GM Voices by BLEND?

GM Voices is already the standard bearer of brand-authentic voice recordings for technologies and multimedia, but the best just got even better. BLEND brings global expertise, a team that expands its capabilities manyfold, and a financial commitment to improving your voice-enabled and international touch points like no other.

We know voice is subjective and there are several prominent voice-over providers. Before you make a final call, let us demonstrate our value through custom auditions to find your brand voice, a project proposal that meets your budget and deployment goals, and a roadmap for ensuring the success of your application.

I have additional questions on how this affects my projects going forward. Who can I talk to?

Contact your BLEND account manager to start the conversation. They’ll be able to provide specific guidance and introductions for your current or ongoing voice projects. If you don’t recall or don’t have a dedicated account manager, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. We’d be happy to schedule a short call to discuss your voice-over needs or questions.

For a new Voice Localization Project, contact us here.

BLEND News