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Synthesia cofounder Victor Riparbelli. AFP via Getty Images London-based AI video generation startup Synthesia has closed a funding round that nearly doubles its valuation to $4 billion, three sources familiar with the matter told Forbes. GV, the venture firm backed by Alphabet, is leading the $200 million round, the sources said. The company last raised $180 million at a $2.1 billion valuation in January. In April, Synthesia announced it crossed $100 million in annualized revenue. Synthesia and GV declined to comment. The startup uses AI models to help large companies turn dry training manuals into videos featuring its AI avatars. Chemical giant DuPont, printer-maker Xerox and airline Spirit use Synthesia’s avatars to deliver safety briefings and other training videos in more than 100 different languages. A host of video generation software has popped up in the last few years. Synthesia is up against giants like Adobe, which continues to add AI features to its photo and video editing suite, as well as newer entrants like HeyGen, which said it reached the $100 million ARR mark earlier this month. Software giant Adobe discussed buying Synthesia for $3 billion but they weren’t able to reach a deal because of disagreements on the price, the Information reported in October. Adobe Ventures previously invested in Synthesia, which was founded in 2017. AI video applications like OpenAI’s Sora 2 have made waves recently, and Synthesia’s CEO Victor Riparbelli, a 30 Under 30 alum, told Forbes in January that the startup plans to differentiate itself from consumer-focused plays likes Sora by staying focused on creating business videos that feature humans speaking. “We don't care about AI video as in ‘here's a thing that can make absolutely anything you can think of,’” he said in January. “We only care about humans and videos and presenters for business content.” Riparbelli added that the company intends to branch out into marketing and other types of content production, allowing its avatars to star in advertising videos. He noted that some TikTok creators are already using Synthesia to produce videos. Iain Martin contributed reporting. Got a tip? Share confidential information with Forbes. Editorial StandardsReprints & Permissions
