UK A.I. Rising Star Synthesia Hits $4B Valuation With $200M Round

Synthesia, a U.K.-based startup making lifelike digital avatars for enterprise communications, just raised a $200 million series E at a $4 billion valuation, making it one of the most valuable A.I. startups in Britain. The round was led by Alphabet’s venture capital arm. Other participants included Nvidia’s venture capital arm, Evantic, Accel, Kleiner Perkins and NEA. The new valuation nearly doubled the $2.1 billion figure Synthesia claimed last year after a $180 million funding round.

“Synthesia was founded on two core beliefs: first, that A.I. will bring the cost of content creation down to zero. And secondly, that A.I. video provides a better, more engaging way for organizations to communicate and learn,” said Victor Riparbelli, Synthesia’s CEO, in a statement.

Riparbelli co-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 headquartered in London, with additional offices in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Munich, Zurich and New York City.

The startup specializes in text-to-video generation, producing digital avatars that corporations use for training, internal communications and marketing. Its realistic avatars—created using paid human actors who license their likenesses—can speak more than 160 languages and be customized by outfit, setting and action.

The startup specializes in text-to-video generation, producing digital avatars that corporations use for training, internal communications and marketing. Its realistic avatars, which are created using paid human actors licensing their likeness, can speak more than 160 languages and be customized by outfits, 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 annualized recurring revenue (ARR), a measure of predictable subscription income, and confirmed to Observer that it is on track to reach $200 million ARR in 2026. It also boasts a 140 percent net retention rate, reflecting revenue retained from existing customers.

The new funding will help Synthesia expand into a new class of agents designed to interact with employees in a more conversational way. Rather than simply delivering training content, these avatars will allow users to role-play scenarios and receive explanations interactively. “We are at a unique point in time where technology enables agents that can truly understand and respond, and where enterprises are under unprecedented pressure to reskill and upskill their workforce,” said Riparbelli.

Synthesia’s valuation still pales in comparison to the sky-high figures attached to U.S.  A.I. startups like OpenAI and Anthropic. But the latest funding round makes it one of the U.K.’s most valuable A.I. companies as funding surges across Europe. The continent’s A.I. companies raised $17.5 billion in venture capital last year, up 75 percent year-over-year. The trend was led by Paris-based Mistral AI’s nearly $2 billion round, according to Crunchbase, representing a roughly 75 percent year-over-year increase and making A.I. the region’s leading sector in venture investment for the first time.