YC-backed Hopper launches voice-agent inference cloud: 80 ms TTFT at $0.30/1M tokens
ycombinator · x · 2026-10-27
Hopper, a YC-backed startup, launched as an "inference cloud for realtime voice agents." Founder Pavan Katta argues the inference market is built almost entirely for coding agents while voice will be how billions interface with AGI. The stack trains models on production traces and serves them against live traffic, with zero data retention by default. Claimed specs: 80 ms TTFT vs 600 ms for GPT-4.1, and $0.30 per 1M input tokens vs $2 for GPT-4.1. The two founders previously ran voice inference at Salient and wrote inference kernels for Quest 3 at Meta Reality Labs.
More from Venture
- Claim: Anthropic hid $108B in expenses via IPO-redeemable convertible notes — GaryMarcus · 2026-10-27
- 4 Hours of LLM Startup Research Produced a Convincing but Nonsense Product Thesis — annetgriffin · 2026-10-27
- YC Winter '27 Applications Close Nov 2: $500K Funding Plus $12M in Tokens and Credits — ycombinator · 2026-10-27
- Job reqs reveal B2B budget shifts: $100k data bounties and $250k GTM engineer roles — VibeMarketer_ · 2026-10-27
- Runpod grew monthly new paying customers 300% in 90 days with an AEO system — jia_seed · 2026-10-27
- This X account gets 5M monthly impressions with an AI agent that finds posts to quote-tweet — leveragedupside · 2026-10-27