- Neosapience is a Korean startup that created a synthetic voice and video platform.
- It raised $21.5 million in Series B to expand to the US and elsewhere.
- It plans to bring its tech to Hollywood and has hired former Warner Bros. Discovery exec Tony Shin.
Neosapience, a Korean startup, is poised to disrupt Hollywood with a voice and video AI platform.
Founded in 2017 by former Qualcomm engineers as an AI voice service provider, Neosapience has since introduced a synthetic voice and video platform, Typecast, that turns written text into human-sounding voices for virtual actors. It’s also created a video avatar that the company says is notable for its realism and adaptability.
As Hollywood faces continuing demand for new content along with economic constraints, Neosapience sees growing interest in its tech locally along with an opportunity to expand to the US.
Clients include Hybe Edu, an edtech unit of South Korean entertainment giant Hybe, which is using Neosapience’s tech to recreate the voices of boy band BTS for its educational tools. A top Korean YouTuber uses it for video dubbing, and “SNL Korea,” a sketch show based on the US original, used Typecast to create a character.
In 2022, Neosapience raised $21.5 million in a Series B, led by BRV Capital Management, to help expand to the US.
Taesu Kim, a founder and CEO of Neosapience, said he sees entertainment companies using Neosapience to do things like add voiceovers to documentaries and to voice AI actors. Currently the company is working on a proof of concept with a big Hollywood animation studio, which he wouldn’t name. His first US hire, former Warner Bros. Discovery business development exec Tony Shin, whose oversight included DC Comics, hints at the kind of opportunity Neosapience sees in the US.
Like other AI-focused entrepreneurs, Kim makes the pitch that AI can address both ends of the market, democratizing the process of making video and audio content and making it easier for entertainment companies to do so. He also shares AI evangelists’ optimistic view that while the tech could impact or even eliminate some jobs, it will also generate new kinds of work.
“The high-end market is a very small number, but we can extend it, and Hollywood studios can make more or personalized content more easily,” he told Insider. “Our vision is the future of creativity.”
Here are select slides from Neosapience’s pitch deck, updated with 2023 figures, that helped it raise its most recent round.
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