Episode 428: Mike Pappas - CEO & Co-Founder, Modulate

Episode 428 of The VentureFizz #podcast features Mike Pappas, CEO & Co-Founder of Modulate. Is Boston the best place to build a voice AI company? Based on its rich history in this category, I would have to say 1000%. From the early days of ScanSoft and Dragon to SpeechWorks and Vlingo—all of which eventually fell under the voice juggernaut Nuance, which worked on the early days of Siri and was acquired by Microsoft—the pedigree in this city is unmatched. Add in players like Bose, Vivox, and the sizable presence of Amazon Alexa in the area, and it's clear: Boston is the voice capital of the world. Mike Pappas and his co-founder Carter Huffman are adding a massive new chapter to that legacy and thatis Modulate, a venture-backed voice intelligence company building AI models and APIs designed to understand real-world conversational audio at scale. Modulate is the company behind ToxMod, the world's most advanced proactive voice moderation platform. If you’ve played Call of Duty lately, you’ve likely interacted with their tech. And, the company recently launched a new product called Velma, the leading AI-platform for real-world voice intelligence. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: Mike’s perspective on the shift from license-based to usage-based pricing models. Mike’s background story—from his physics studies at MIT to his early career at Bridgewater Associates. Entering "startup land" at Lola and the critical hiring lessons he learned while working alongside Paul English. The founding of Modulate and the pivotal moment when they realized the tech they built was actually the solution to a massive safety problem in gaming which led to a relationship with Activision. All the details about ToxMod and Velma, including customer examples and use cases. Why their dataset is a "moat" that makes their technology uniquely defensible in the age of generic LLMs. Mike's advice for first-time founders on raising capital and building a high-performance culture. Plus, so much more! This podcast is brought to you by one of the strongest longtime supporters of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors and $44B in loans as of Q4 2025 – SVB delivers expert guidance, specialized products and a team that knows the innovation economy inside and out. Learn more at SVB.com.