The AI video platform for business
HQ: London, United Kingdom | Founded: 2017 | Employees: 400-550 | Stage: Late Stage VC (Unicorn) | Website: https://www.synthesia.io
Synthesia is a London-based generative AI video platform founded in 2017 by Victor Riparbelli, Matthias Niessner, Lourdes Agapito and Steffen Tjerrild (AI researchers from Stanford, Cambridge, UCL and TUM). Its browser-based studio lets enterprises create studio-quality videos from text using AI avatars, voice cloning and automated lip-sync/dubbing — without cameras, actors or studios. The platform supports 230+ stock avatars, Personal Avatars created from webcam footage, 140+ languages, video translation, collaborative editing and the Synthesia API. Customers include 70,000+ organizations including Zoom, Heineken, BSH, SAP, Bosch and Merck, with 90% of the Fortune 100 using the platform for training, onboarding, sales enablement and internal communications.
The company operates a SaaS subscription model (Starter from $22/month, Creator/Enterprise tiers) and has scaled to ~$70M revenue in 2024 and $100M ARR by April 2025. Backed by $330M from NEA, Accel, Kleiner Perkins, GV, FirstMark, NVentures (Nvidia), Atlassian Ventures, PSP Growth and WiL, Synthesia reached unicorn status at $1B (June 2023, $90M Series C) and doubled to $2.1B at its $180M Series D in January 2025 led by NEA. Its proprietary EXPRESS-1 expressive avatar model and ETTS lip-sync technology differentiate it from HeyGen, D-ID and Colossyan in the $20B video creation market.
Synthesia has become the $2.1B category leader in AI video — turning text into studio-quality video with 230+ avatars and 140+ languages — serving 70k+ customers (90% Fortune 100) including Zoom, Heineken and BSH. Its $180M Series D (Jan 2025, NEA-led, $2.1B valuation, $330M total raised) followed a $90M Series C with Nvidia, validating enterprise demand for AI video at $70M revenue in 2024 and positioning its EXPRESS-1 and Personal Avatar tech as infrastructure for corporate L&D and communications.
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