UK’s Video AI Firm Synthesia Hits $2.1Bn Valuation Amid National AI Push

Synthesia, an artificial intelligence (AI) video platform on Wednesday raised $180mn in an investment round at $2.1bn valuation. The AI start-up was valued at around $1bn in a Series C funding round a year back ago after raising $90 mn.

The Series D investment has nearly doubled the London-based start-up’s valuation making it one of the biggest AI firms in Britain.

This funding comes after United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer released his government’s AI Opportunity Action Plan on Monday. The plan aims to make Britain a world leader in artificial intelligence.

Also Read: Govt Aims To Boost Use Of Artificial Intelligence In Food Processing

The investment round was led by Venture capital firm NEA Management, which included Atlassian Ventures and Penny Pritzker’s investment vehicle. Start-up’s previous investors GV and MMC Ventures also participated in the round.

Some other portfolio companies of Synthesia include Uber and TikTok parent company ByteDance and global chip giant Nvidia.

Synthesia has raised $330mn in total to date.

Britain’s AI Action Plan

Britain plans to create “sovereign” AI models which aren’t reliant on Silicon Valley. The government plans to leverage the AI growth zones and a newly established National Data Library to connect universities and enhance the country’s ability to create sovereign AI models.

Starmer is throwing the full weight of Whitehall behind the AI industry by agreeing to take forward all 50 recommendations set out by Matt Clifford in his AI Opportunities Action Plan.

The AI Opportunities Action Plan is backed by leading tech firms, which are said to have committed £14bn towards various projects.

Also Read: Education Sector Sees Surge in Artificial Intelligence Skill Adoption

Synthesia and the AI Race

Synthesia was founded in 2017 by a team of AI researchers and entrepreneurs from UCL, Stanford, TUM and Cambridge. The start-up says that its mission is to empower everyone to make video content without cameras, microphones, or studios.

Synthesia sells its text-to-video software to businesses as a cost-effective way to train staff or demo products. The start-up claims that 60% of Fortune 100 firms are paying clients.

The start-up’s technology includes its “Expressive Avatars,” which aim to revolutionise professional video production by bridging the gap between virtual and real characters. The firm claims to do away with the need for cameras, microphones, actors and lengthy editing processes, reducing down costs.

Synthesia faces significant competition from both new-age start-ups and AI giants like OpenAI and Adobe. New-age start-ups like Veed.io and Runway are also in the race to develop generative AI tools for video creation.