Photo credit: www.cnbc.com
An Adobe sign hangs along Main Street during the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 27, 2025, in Park City, Utah.
LONDON — Adobe has made a significant investment in Synthesia, a British startup specializing in artificial intelligence, signaling its confidence that this technology will reshape the landscape of video production.
The company disclosed to CNBC that Adobe’s venture capital division has provided an undisclosed sum as part of a “strategic” partnership, though specific financial details have not been released.
Synthesia boasts a platform that utilizes AI to create videos featuring lifelike avatars. It claims to work with over 70% of the Fortune 100 companies, allowing users to either generate their own AI avatars in one of its production studios or via personal devices.
With a market capitalization close to $150 billion, Adobe is renowned for its creative software, particularly Photoshop and Premiere Pro, a leading video editing tool in the broadcast and advertising sectors.
“Our goal is to develop the preeminent AI video platform for enterprises, and Adobe’s investment affirms this vision,” remarked Synthesia CEO Victor Riparbelli in a conversation with CNBC. “We are aligned in our mission to democratize access to high-quality content creation and to enhance efficiency in enterprise communication.”
This investment reflects a trend in Adobe’s strategy of engaging with high-potential startups. The company previously sought to acquire design platform Figma for $20 billion but ultimately abandoned the deal due to regulatory concerns in the European Union and the U.K. Adobe has also shown commitment as a venture investor, aligning itself with emerging firms like Captions and VidMob.
Profitability ‘not an immediate focus’
“We’ve seen about 100% annual growth, stemming from robust customer acquisition and sound unit economics,” stated Riparbelli. “Reaching $100 million in ARR places us among a select group of AI-native firms demonstrating significant traction.”
Despite this growth, the company remains unprofitable and is not prioritizing immediate profit. In 2023, Synthesia reported a pre-tax loss of £25.2 million against revenues of £25.7 million, as revealed in a recent filing with U.K. Companies House. Riparbelli emphasized to CNBC that while profitability is not the current focus, the company has a clear trajectory for future growth.
“We’ve never pursued growth recklessly,” he added, noting that the firm still has capital remaining from a funding round earlier in 2023, which further supports its ongoing operations.
In its last funding round in January, Synthesia was valued at approximately $2.1 billion. The company faces competition from various players within the industry, including Colossyan, DeepBrain AI, Invideo AI, Filmora, and Veed.io, as well as formidable rivals like OpenAI, which offers a text-to-video product named Sora capable of generating realistic clips from text descriptions.
Source
www.cnbc.com