AI video characters — Character-1 foundation model for lifelike talking video
HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States | Founded: 2023 | Employees: 25–40 (est. 2026) | Stage: Series A ($32M, a16z Infra) | Website: https://www.hedra.com
Hedra was founded in 2023 in San Francisco by Michael Lingelbach (CEO, PhD researcher) and Alexander Bergman. It builds Hedra Studio and the Character-1 video generation model that powers viral talking-character content across TikTok and Instagram. The company launched publicly Aug 2024 with $10M seed led by Index Ventures and Abstract Ventures (Forbes coverage). In May 2025 it announced $32M Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz's Infrastructure fund (Reuters May 15; Business Insider pitch deck May 15), bringing total to $44M. Hedra is known for deliberately shutting its free app at 1M users — 'free users are a false signal' — rebuilding with 6 months runway to hit $10M ARR on paid characters, with Together AI case study citing 60% cost savings at scale.
Hedra's wedge is characters who feel alive: Character-1 generates expressive, lips-synced video from a single image + audio, a level of fidelity that went viral across TikTok/IG. Founded 2023 by Michael Lingelbach (ex-Stanford PhD researcher) and Alexander Bergman, it launched with $10M seed in Aug 2024 (Index, Abstract) then $32M Series A in May 2025 led by Andreessen Horowitz Infrastructure (Reuters/Business Insider pitch deck), total $44M per Tracxn. It controversially shut down its own app at 1M users to chase $10M ARR — 'free users are a false signal' — then rebuilt profitably via Together AI's cost savings (60% claim). Hedra must prove model lead vs HeyGen/Synthesia/HeyGen scale before they clone character fidelity.
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