UK AI Rising Star Synthesia Hits $4B Value in $200M Round

Synthesia, a UK-based startup that creates lifelike digital avatars for business communications, has just raised a Series E of 200 million at a valuation of $4 billion, making it one of Britain’s most valuable AI startups. The round was led by Alphabet’s venture capital arm. Other participants include Nvidia’s venture capital arm, Evantic, Accel, Kleiner Perkins and NEA. The new valuation nearly doubles the $2.1 billion figure Synthesia sought last year after a $180 million funding round.

“Synthesia was founded on two main beliefs: first, that AI will bring the cost of creating content down to zero. And second, that AI video offers a better way, involving organizations to communicate and learn,” said Victor Riparbelli, CEO of Synthesia, in a statement.

Riparbelli founded Synthesia in 2017 with Steffen Tjerrild—his former partner at crypto exchange Coincall—and computer scientists Lourdes Agapito and Matthias Niessner. The company is based in London, with additional offices in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Munich, Zurich and New York City.

The startup focuses on text-to-video, producing digital avatars that companies use for training, internal communications and marketing. Its virtual avatars—created using paid human actors who vouch for their likeness—can speak more than 160 languages ​​and are customizable in terms of assets, location and performance.

The startup focuses on text-to-video, producing digital avatars that companies use for training, internal communications and marketing. Its virtual avatars, created using paid human actors who license their likenesses, can speak more than 160 languages ​​and have customizable clothes, settings and actions.

Synthesia’s clients include Microsoft, UBS, Ford, Lloyds Bank, among more than 90 percent of Fortune 100 companies. In April, the company said it had surpassed $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), a measure of predictable subscription revenue, and confirmed to the Observer that it was on track to reach $200 million in ARR by 2026. It also boasts a net retention rate of 140 percent, reflecting retained revenue from existing customers.

The new funding will help Synthesia grow into a new class of agents designed to interact with employees in a more conversational way. Instead of simply delivering training content, these images will allow users to role-play and discover explanations together. “We’re in a unique era where technology allows agents to be truly intuitive and responsive, and where businesses are under unprecedented pressure to reskill and develop their workforce,” Riparbelli said.

Synthesia’s rating still pales in comparison to sky-high figures linked to US AI startups like OpenAI and Anthropic. But the latest round of funding makes it one of the most important AI companies in the UK as funding increases across Europe. The continent’s AI companies earned $17.5 billion last year, up 75 percent year-on-year. The trend was led by Paris-based Mistral AI with nearly $2 billion, according to Crunchbase, representing a 75 percent year-over-year increase and making AI the region’s leading sector in investment for the first time.