Synthesia, a video platform that uses artificial intelligence to generate clips featuring multilingual human avatars, raised $180 million as part of an investment round valuing this startup at $2.1 billion.
It is worth noting that in the latest funding in 2023, the valuation of the mentioned startup reached the $1 billion mark.
On Wednesday, January 15, London-based Synthesia announced that the new funding round was led by venture firm NEA with participation from Atlassian Ventures, World Innovation Lab, and PSP Growth. It is worth noting that NEA counts Uber and TikTok parent company ByteDance among its portfolio companies. Moreover, a startup is backed by Nvidia, one of the main beneficiaries of the so-called artificial intelligence boom.
Victor Riparbelli, chief executive officer of Synthesia, said during a conversation with media representatives that investors appreciated the businesses differently from other companies in the space due to its focus on utility. It was also separately noted that a startup does not depend on venture capital.
Startups in the area of artificial intelligence have raised billions of dollars at eye-watering valuations and are spending sizable amounts of money on training and developing their foundational AI models.
Victor Riparbelli stated that the money received will be used to invest in more of the same, further product development, and increase financial injections into security and compliance.
In 2024, Synthesia made a series of updates to its platform, including the ability to produce artificial intelligence avatars using a laptop webcam or phone, full-body avatars with arms and hands, and a screen recording tool that has an AI avatar guide users through what they are viewing.
In October, the startup conducted a public red team test for risks around online harms. In this case, it was demonstrated how compliance controls counteract attempts to generate non-consensual deepfakes of people and hinder activity aimed at using avatars to encourage life-threatening moves, gambling, and adult content.
It is worth noting that against the background of the active development of artificial intelligence, the issue of cybersecurity has become more relevant. Scammers also have access to AI tools. To counteract the corresponding threat in the cyber environment, personal awareness of users is important. For example, an Internet search query such as how to know if my camera is hacked will allow anyone to get information about signs of unauthorized access to the device. Digital literacy is an effective tool for combating cybercrime.
