A91 Partners-backed VideoVerse, a video editing platform, has bought AI-based design system Optikka for an undisclosed amount, marking its second acquisition this year.
The deal will help VideoVerse to expand its media, design, and publishing capabilities for sports, news, and entertainment within its real-time content automation platform, Magnifi.ai, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
“We are focused on building best-in-class content automation services across sports, news and entertainment. Obviously, graphics are an essential component to these workflows,” said Prateek Sharma, who recently was appointed chief strategy officer at VideoVerse. “This is the first step in evolving Magnifi from a point solution to a post-production automation platform.”
Further, the acquisition helps add two key executives – Charles Duncan and Nick Arciero - to VideoVerse’s team. Duncan and Arciero, who have previously worked across multiple Disney business divisions, worked together to build Optikka.
“With generative AI moving at warp speed, we’ve been looking for the right team to harness that power and we believe we’ve found that in Charles and Nick,” Prateek added.
Founded in 2016 by Vinayak Shrivastav, Saket Dandotia and Alok Patil, VideoVerse (erstwhile Toch.ai) uses artificial intelligence to process video content including live sporting events, television shows, and library-based content.
Earlier this year, in April the startup had bought Reely.ai, a AI-based content creation and social media distribution company, to improve its capabilities in the gaming and esports sectors.
VideoVerse plans to use Optikka's capabilities across video, broadcast, XR, and metaverse platforms. It offers post-production compositing engine for graphic design with GPT integrations. “With no-code and low-code toolsets, our tech can transform how commercial content owners and broadcasters create fully branded, internet-breaking content for their audiences in real-time,” said Duncan.
It last raised about $46.8 million (around Rs 355.6 crore) in Series B round led by A91 Partners, Alpha Wave Global and Flipkart Founder Binny Bansal in April 2022. Previously, it raised $11.7 million in Series A round from Moneta Ventures, Baring Private Equity India, Binny Bansal, Ventureast, 9Unicorns, Anthill Ventures, Cathexis Ventures, SOSV, Artesian, and Innoven Capital in October 2021.
