Korean startup Neosapience, which helps individual video and audio content creators make professional-level content using Artificial Intelligence, has received $21.5 million in Series B funding. Neosapience operates AI-powered virtual actor service Typecast, which uses AI to create synthetic voices and videos.
The funding round was led by BRV Capital Management, with participation from Stic Ventures and Quantum Ventures and previous investors Company K Partners, Albatross Investment Capital, Daekyo Investment, and TimeWorks Investment. Funds will be used for further product development and the company’s expansion into the US.
Typecast is a tool for video and audio content creations. It allows anyone to use AI-powered virtual actors, leveraging audio and video synthesis technology in their content. Users have to type in a script simply, and it is possible to create audio and video content as if an actual actor were recording and shooting in a studio. Professional actors and newscasters have recorded thousands of sounds and words, revealing their natural emotions and vocal styles for Typecast platform. In addition, the company has collected speech videos and then trained deep neural networks to synthesize their voices, mouth shapes and facial expressions accordingly to generate the most life-like virtual human imaginable.
Tool for single creators & professional productions
Typecast first started as an AI voice actor service, providing 170 virtual voice actors in Korean and English. Since its launch in November 2019, revenue has increased by an average of 18% per month for over two years. Among the most popular channels in Korea in 2021 on YouTube, the top channel in the shorts category was created exclusively with Typecast’s dubbing. Besides the single content creator, professional production directors at major broadcasters, home shopping and OTT providers also use Typecast instead of hiring human actors. Major e-book platforms use Typecast to offer a variety of audiobooks created by AI voice actors.
The company recently added a video actor service to provide an AI virtual human video in addition to the natural, expressive voice it specializes in. Additionally, Spanish and Japanese will be available. Team members have also published several widely-cited papers and hold several patents for the company’s AI-powered voice and video technology.
“While we have grown so rapidly over the past year, we see an opportunity to push even further to become the undisputed global leader in AI-driven virtual humans and its applications in synthetic media and interactive content,” said Taesu Kim, founder and CEO of Neosapience. “This latest round of funding will allow us to expand our reach and push the boundaries even further. It will not only allow content creators to create more content with less effort but also execute on our vision of AI-powered virtual actors being accessible to everyone.”
“The promise of exhibiting human-level emotions via technology has proven to be extremely difficult to achieve to date. Neosapience, who continues to spearhead the voice and video synthesis space, has successfully constructed the commercial infrastructure that individual creators, as well as entertainment and media companies around the world, can easily access to revolutionize the way emotions are embedded into digital and virtual contents production,” said Yeemin Chung, Managing Director at BRV Capital Management. “We are thoroughly impressed with Typecast’s dedication towards tech sophistication as well as immediate user benefits. We are privileged to lead the Series B round and forge this partnership with world-class innovators,” Chung added.
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