Synthesia (company)

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Synthesia Limited
Company typePrivate
Industry Artificial intelligence
Founded2017;8 years ago (2017)
Founder Lourdes Agapito
Matthias Niessner
Victor Riparbelli
Steffen Tjerrild
Headquarters London, United Kingdom
Area served
Worldwide
Products Synthetic media
Video editing software
Number of employees
550 [1]  (2025)
Website www.synthesia.io

Synthesia Limited is a British multinational artificial intelligence company based in London, United Kingdom, that develops software used to create AI-generated video content and synthetic media.

Contents

Overview

Synthesia is most often used by corporations for communication, orientation, and training videos. [2] It has been used in advertising campaigns, reporting, product demonstrations, and to create chatbots. [3] [4]

Synthesia's software algorithm mimics speech and facial movements based on video recordings of an individual's speech and phoneme pronunciation. From this a text-to-speech video is created to look and sound like the individual. [5] [6]

Users create content via the platform's pre-generated AI presenters [3] or by creating digital representations of themselves, or personal avatars, using the platform's AI video editing tool. [7] These avatars can be used to narrate videos generated from text. As of August 2021, Synthesia's voice database included multiple gender options in over sixty languages. [7] [8]

Deepfakes

The platform prohibits use of its software to create non-consensual clones, including of celebrities or political figures for satirical purposes. [9] Explicit consent must be provided in addition to a strict pre-screening regimen for use of an individual's likeness to avoid “deepfaking”. [10]

While the company prohibits use of its technology for misinformation or "news-like content", [11] an October 2023 Freedom House report stated that Synthesia tools had been used by governments in Venezuela, China, Burkina Faso, and Russia to create videos of fake TV news outlets with AI-generated avatars in order to spread propaganda. [12] [13] Actor Dan Dewhirst signed a contract with the company in 2021, becoming one of the first actors whose likeness would be made into an AI avatar, finding his likeness used in the Venezuelan generated-videos. [14] The company stated, in February 2024, that it had improved its misuse detection systems, [11] and, in April 2024, that new users of its technology are screened by the company, and content employing it is further vetted by Synthesia moderators. [15]

History

Synthesia's software utilizes deep learning architecture developed by Lourdes Agapito and Matthias Niessner. The company was co-founded in 2017 by Agapito, Niessner, Victor Riparbelli, and Steffen Tjerrild. [16] In 2018, the company first demonstrated the software's capabilities on the BBC programme Click when it presented a digitization of Matthew Amroliwala speaking Spanish, Mandarin, and Hindi. [17] Through Synthesia's first two years of existence, it employed ten people and struggled to make sales, leading to an expansion of the company's focus. It moved on from just targeting entertainment studios to a variety of businesses. [18]

In 2020, Synthesia users were reported to include Amazon, Tiffany & Co. and IHG Hotels & Resorts. [19] [20]

In January 2024, the company introduced its AI video assistant, which turns text-to-video. [21] That April, with a reported 55,000 customers, including half of the Fortune 100, Synthesia launched "expressive avatars". [15]

Peter Hill joined Synthesia as CTO in January 2025, following 25 years at Amazon, and two years as CEO and CPO of Wildfire Studios. [22]

Funding

Synthesia raised $3.1 million in seed funding in 2019. [4] In April 2021, the company raised $12.5 million in Series A funding. [7] In December 2021, it raised $50 million in a Series B funding round led by Kleiner Perkins and GV. [23] Synthesia gained a total valuation of $1 billion, and achieved unicorn status, when it raised $90 million from Accel and Nvidia partnership NVentures, in June 2023, during its Series C funding round. [24] [25] [19] Counting 60,000 customers the following January, including over 60% of Fortune 100 companies; the company raised $180 million in a Series D round led by NEA, [26] with new investors World Innovation Lab (WiL), Atlassian Ventures and PSP Growth, as well as existing investors GV, MMC Ventures and FirstMark, doubling Synthesia's valuation to $2.1 billion. [27] [28] Capital raised to date reached $330 million in 2025, [28] with 2025 investments slated to further product innovation, talent growth, and company expansion in North America, Europe, Japan and Australia. [26]

In April 2025, Adobe Inc. invested "an undisclosed amount of funds" in Synthesia for a “strategic” partnership. [29] Around that time, Synthesia rejected an acquisition offer from Adobe that reportedly valued the company at about $3 billion, due to disagreements over pricing. [1]

After Synthesia raised in $200 million funding round led by GV, the company's valuation rose to approximately $4 billion in October 2025. [30]

Recognition

In 2021, Synthesia partnered with Lay's to create the Messi Messages campaign featuring Argentine footballer Lionel Messi. Users created personalized messages with Synthesia's software and sent custom artificial reality video messages from Messi based on their text input. [31] The campaign received a Cannes Lion Award under the Bronze category. [32] [33]

In February 2025, UK Science and Technology Minister Peter Kyle commended Synthesia's "pioneering generative AI innovations." [22] [28]

References

  1. 1 2 Prescott, Katie (23 October 2025). "Unicorn AI start-up Synthesia rejects $3bn Adobe takeover". The Times.
  2. ↑ Crook, Jordan (8 December 2021). "Synthesia raises $50M to leverage synthetic avatars for corporate training and more". TechCrunch. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  3. 1 2 Khalid, Amrita. "The Next Great Tool for Winning Customers and Training Employees: Deepfakes". Inc.
  4. 1 2 Roettgers, Janko (22 August 2019). "How AI Tech Is Changing Dubbing, Making Stars Like David Beckham Multilingual". Variety. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  5. ↑ Simonite, Tom. "Deepfakes Are Now Making Business Pitches". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  6. ↑ "Dubbing is coming to a small screen near you". The Economist. 21 December 2019.
  7. 1 2 3 Crook, Jordan (20 April 2021). "Synthesia's AI video generation platform hooks $12.5 million Series A led by FirstMark". TechCrunch. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  8. ↑ Dale, Robert (8 April 2022). "The voice synthesis business: 2022 update". Natural Language Engineering. 28 (3): 401–408. doi: 10.1017/S1351324922000146 . ISSN   1351-3249.
  9. ↑ Heilweil, Rebecca (29 June 2020). "How deepfakes could actually do some good". Vox. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  10. ↑ "Synthesia, which is developing AI to generate synthetic videos, secures $50M". VentureBeat. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  11. 1 2 In Big Election Year, A.I.’s Architects Move Against Its Misuse The New York Times accessed 19 August 2024.
  12. ↑ "Generative AI Is the Newest Tool in the Dictator's Handbook". Gizmodo. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  13. ↑ Ganguly, Manisha (16 October 2024). "'It's not me, it's just my face': the models who found their likenesses had been used in AI propaganda". The Guardian.
  14. ↑ Goldbart, Max (17 October 2024). "'Prometheus' Actor Warns Against AI Avatars After He Says Face Used For Venezuelan Propaganda". Deadline.
  15. 1 2 Nvidia-backed startup Synthesia unveils AI avatars that can convey human emotions CNBC accessed 19 August 2024.
  16. ↑ Butcher, Mike (25 April 2019). "The startup behind that deep-fake David Beckham video just raised $3M". TechCrunch. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  17. ↑ "BBC World News - Click, Top Quality Fake News, BBC newsreader 'speaks' languages he can't". BBC. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  18. ↑ Fearn, Nicholas (26 November 2025). "AI video start-up takes wide-angle view to boost growth". Financial Times.
  19. 1 2 Singh, Jaspreet. "AI startup Synthesia gains unicorn status after Nvidia-backed fundraise". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  20. ↑ "AI Video Creation Pioneer Synthesia Raises $90 Million Series C Led by Accel". Business Wire. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  21. ↑ Synthesia launches LLM-powered assistant to turn any text file or link into AI video Venture Beat accessed 19 August 2024.
  22. 1 2 Nvidia-backed AI video platform Synthesia doubles valuation to $2.1 billion CNBC. January 15, 2025
  23. ↑ Lee, Jane Lanhee (8 December 2021). "AI video avatar platform Synthesia raises $50 mln in venture capital". Reuters. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  24. ↑ Burroughs, Callum (13 June 2023). "Generative AI startup Synthesia just raised $90 million in fresh funds from US fund Accel and Nvidia at a $1 billion valuation". Business Insider. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  25. ↑ Wiggers, Kyle. "Synthesia secures $90M for AI that generates custom avatars". TechCrunch. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  26. 1 2 Synthesia hits $2.1 bln in valuation after latest fundraise Reuters. January 14, 2025
  27. ↑ AI video platform Synthesia raises $180M, doubling valuation to $2.1B Silicon Angle. January 15, 2025
  28. 1 2 3 Saunders, Tom (15 January 2025). "British start-up Synthesia hits $2.1bn valuation on AI video boom". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  29. ↑ Browne, Ryan (15 April 2025). "Adobe takes stake in Synthesia, startup behind AI clones for corporate videos". CNBC. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  30. ↑ Shrivastava, Rashi; Tong, Anna (29 October 2025). "AI Startup Synthesia Valued At $4 Billion in $200 Million Raise". Forbes.
  31. ↑ "You can now send personalised videos from an AI version of Messi. It's weird". ESPN.com. 16 March 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  32. ↑ "The Work | Lions Entry | Messi Messages". The Work. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  33. ↑ "2020-21" . Retrieved 8 December 2025.
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