Video AI Startup Rephrase.ai Raises $10.6 mn in Series A Round by Red Ventures

On September 15, AI communication startup Rephrase.ai raised $10.6 million as part of Series A funding. Supported by Lightspeed ventures, the startup aims to improve communication through synthetic media. 

According to a statement, the funding round was led by Red Ventures, widely known for its investments in brands and businesses focused on offering premium content and personalised digital experiences. The round also witnessed participation from investors like 8VC among several others, including Silver Lake, one of the leading technology investors with stakes in Red Ventures. 

The investment is expected to help Rephrase.ai improve its capabilities by combining product experiences and scaling recruiting across the organisation—including within the engineering, AI, product, sales, and marketing teams.

Ashray Malhotra, CEO and co-founder, Rephrase.ai, said, "We started Rephrase.ai four years ago with the goal of building an engine that can make creating professional quality videos as easy as writing text. In the last year, we've developed hundreds of digital human clones, creating millions of videos during the process. I'm thrilled to welcome Red Ventures, Silver Lake, and 8VC as partners on this journey to help expedite the world's adoption of generative AI videos."

Rephrase.ai was founded in 2019 by IIT alumni Ashray Malhotra, Nisheeth Lahoti, and Shivam Mangla. The business uses text inputs combined with deep learning to produce digital representations of real people which can then be utilised to make synthetic video content. It has created multiple Chief Experience Officers (CXOs) and celebrity digital avatars over the past year. These avatars have cutting-edge facial mapping, voice, lip synchronisation, and expression capabilities.