Siri Co-Founder Backs Helix's Voice ID Startup
Original: Siri co-founder backs Helix for its voice ID tech
Why This Matters
On-device biometric ID could reshape how platforms verify users amid rising AI bot threats.
Helix, a voice identity startup founded in 2025, raised $6.2M led by Chicago Ventures. Siri co-founder Dag Kittlaus backs the company, which uses on-device voice tech to verify human identity without collecting personal data.
Helix wants to replace CAPTCHA and photo-based identity checks with voice technology that runs locally on a user's device—no sensitive personal data required. The startup raised $6.2 million in a seed round led by Chicago Ventures, with BAM Ventures, Aglaé Ventures, Corazon Capital, Press On Ventures, Tusk Ventures, Yonder Ventures, Rule30, and Brown Angel Group also participating. Siri co-founder Dag Kittlaus joins as a backer and advisor.
Founded in 2025 by Alex Oberg, Anna Dorofiyenko, and Mike Hall, the team brings credentials from Ticketmaster, Live Nation, Zillow, Nike, and Tinder. Oberg helped build Ticketmaster's Verified Fan anti-bot system before turning his attention to AI-era identity problems. "As AI started to come up in the last two years, I was realizing that it's going to make it increasingly difficult to determine who's human and who's not on the Internet," he said.
Helix's model can run on hardware as modest as an iPhone 13, keeping deployment costs low. Current use cases include human verification, bot blocking, and age estimation. Healthcare platform Zeel already uses the tech to verify in-home care providers. The company is also piloting voice as a biomarker to detect drunkenness or distress, and sees opportunity in the growing wave of age-verification laws targeting social media platforms.