Picture yourself as a Formula One racer speeding along the track at 200 miles per hour when your engineer radios in with a message... something. The words are unclear, but you can’t afford to waste a lap trying to clarify, especially with the race—and your safety—at stake.
This is one of the challenges Norwegian company Hance is addressing with its remarkably compact and rapid audio processing software, which has already drawn the attention of clients such as Intel and Riedel Communications, the official radio provider for F1. Hance is among the 200 startups chosen to present their innovations at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, scheduled for October 27-29 at San Francisco’s Moscone Center.
With a team of about 10 people, the company brings together extensive expertise in the audio sector. Among them are co-founder Stian Aagedal, who also leads audio editing firm Acon Digital, and Peder Jørgensen, the operator of the Soundly sound effects library.
As artificial intelligence continues to advance, Aagedal, Jørgensen, and the rest of the Hance crew saw a chance to integrate these cutting-edge tools throughout the audio processing workflow—particularly for noise suppression and sound separation. They began developing their own AI models a few years ago, training them on Soundly’s premium recordings, which range from the thunder of F1 engines to the explosive sounds of Icelandic volcanoes.
Since then, Hance has managed to compress its processing models down to just 242 kB, allowing them to operate directly on devices rather than relying on cloud computing, which saves both time and energy. According to Hance, these models are capable of isolating audio, eliminating background noise, echo, and reverb, and improving speech intelligibility with only 10 milliseconds of delay.
Although other companies provide comparable audio processing solutions, Hance’s ultra-compact and power-saving models can handle real-time audio on devices of any size. This makes them ideal for the radios Riedel supplies to F1 and FIFA, as well as appealing for use in law enforcement and defense, CEO Joote Hika shared with TechCrunch.
Hika believes Hance’s audio technology has the potential to expand into many more fields, especially now that Intel has come on board as a partner. Hance has been collaborating with the tech giant to adapt its models for various Intel chips, including the latest “neural processing units.” Hika also mentioned ongoing discussions with other chip manufacturers and a smartphone company whose identity remains confidential.
According to Hika, these business collaborations are expected to continue for several years and are not exclusive, which benefits the startup’s growth prospects. However, he noted that Hance must maintain a rapid development pace to stay ahead of rivals. The company has just hired its first chief commercial officer, but Hika anticipates that Hance will remain deeply invested in research and development, prioritizing “AI-capable” talent to keep the team agile.
“We’re aware that we currently have an edge over our competitors, but we need to maintain that lead, so we’re moving quickly,” he stated.
If you’re interested in discovering more about Hance—and meeting dozens of other startups, hearing their presentations, and attending talks across four stages—join us at Disrupt, happening October 27 to 29 in San Francisco.
Find out more about ticket options and pricing here.
