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Captions — Startup ProfileThe AI video creation platform — now Mirage, the AI research lab for videoHQ: New York, NY, United States | Founded: 2021 | Employees: 80–150 (est. 2026) | Stage: Growth ($500M valuation + $75M CVF, 2026) | Website: https://www.captions.aiAboutCaptions was founded in 2021 in New York by Gaurav Misra (CEO, ex-Microsoft Design, Snap) and Dwight Churchill (COO). The company builds Captions — a mobile/desktop AI video creation app used by 20M creators for captions, editing, eye contact, dubbing, and generative models — and Mirage, the underlying AI research lab building proprietary video foundation models (mirrored strategy to Pika/Ideogram). It raised early rounds then $60M Series C in Jul 2024 led by Index Ventures at a $500M valuation with Kleiner Perkins, a16z, Sequoia joining (BusinessWire/Pymnts), bringing total then to $100M. In Mar 2026 Mirage raised $75M growth financing from General Catalyst Customer Value Fund to invest $100M in NYC AI video research — total $175M+.Key Metrics

Latest Valuation: $500M (Jul 2024)

Series C: $60M (Index Ventures)

Growth Financing: $75M (GC CVF, Mar 2026)

Total Funding: $175M+

Founded: 2021

Users: 20M creators

Funding Rounds

Round: $8M (est.) (2022-02) — Sequoia Capital

Round: $35M (2022-02) — Sequoia Capital

Round: $60M (2024-07-09) — Index Ventures

Round: $75M (2026-03-24) — General Catalyst Customer Value Fund

Key People

Gaurav Misra

Dwight Churchill

Key Competitors

CapCut (ByteDance) —

Descript —

HeyGen / Pika / Runway —

Adobe Premiere / Express —

Timeline Highlights

2026-03-24: $75M Growth from GC CVF

2024-07-09: $60M Series C at $500M (Index)

2022-02: Series A ~$35M (est.)

2021: Founded in NYC