People are using AI video generation tools to contribute to unexpected new virus trends: podcasts featuring AI-generated stories babies. And one of the companies that helps artists do this is Hedra.
Launched in 2023, the startup offers three character models with a web-based video generation and editing suite. This allows users to create videos with AI-generated characters as focus and transfer styles across images and audio.
This is what people use to make podcast videos like this. This video tells you what it’s like for an AI-generated dog to live in the home with a new baby.
We don’t know how much Hedra has benefited from this trend, but it’s still attracting enough investor attention. On Thursday, he said he raised $32 million in a Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz’s Infrastructure Fund. Previous investors have participated in the round, with A16Z’s Matt Bornstein joining the startup’s board of directors.
Michael Lingelbach, the company’s founder and CEO (pictured below), told TechCrunch that he was inspired by gaps between companies like Synthesia.
“I thought what if I did something with long dialogue and better controllability at the intersection of video generation and 3D characters,” he said.
Hedra launched its first video model in June 2024, securing $10 million in seed funding from Index Ventures, Abstract Ventures and A16Z Speedrun, quickly attracting investor interest. Earlier this year, Amazon supported the company through venture capital arm Alexa Fund.
Lingelbach noted that the release of the three-model character model in March is a major inflection point (just after the company signed the A16Z and term sheet), and is now driving the growth of many users.
Startups want to train the following models using fresh cash: This allows for better customization and we want to develop technology that allows AI-generated characters to interact with the user.
The company now focuses on attracting creators and professional sumers, and says it is also attracting inbound interest from the company’s marketing department.
Hedra’s own models are focused on character movement and representation, but the app allows other models such as VEO 2 and Kling to be used for video generation. Flux for image generation, Imagen3, SANA, and IDEOGRAM V2. Audio models from 11 Nlabs and Cartecia for audio generation or cloning.
Hedra’s competitors include a caption (also supported by A16Z). This focuses on smartphones. Greycroft-backed Cheehoo works with Hollywood Studios to create animation features. Synthesia, Hagen. Hedra claims that videos generated on that platform have more expressive characters than videos that use competition.
Bornstein of the A16Z believes that as the AI-powered video generation space evolves, more tools will focus on characters, movement, audio, editing, and more.
“AI companies can create amazing clips of the environment and simple action. But they can’t produce meaningful dialogue or animation. It’s not just about making videos, but about creating resonating stories. This depends mainly on the people and characters in the story.