Lux Capital manages over $5 billion in assets focused on founding, seed, early-stage, and growth investments at the intersection of technology and the sciences. Lux takes an active role in helping entrepreneurs build successful businesses in high-growth sectors. Its investment team has built over 20 companies from scratch. Lux's investment strategy ensures portfolio companies are better connected, have a deeper insight, and command industry leadership faster than their competitors.

Lux Capital

Colopl Next is the corporate venture capital of is Colopl, Inc, which is a leading Japanese gaming company. Colopl, Inc. is founded with the mission of “Entertainment in Real Life”, and constantly put its customer as first priority. Colopl Next is headquartered in Japan, but invests globally in a variety of internet businesses, with the commitment to support innovative entrepreneurs.

Colopl Next

Established in 2000 as an early-stage venture capital arm of SoftBank Group, SBVA has a storied history of empowering extraordinary entrepreneurs across the globe. In 2023, we joined forces with The Edgeof, a global startup ecosystem builder founded by Taizo Son, JP Lee, and Atsushi Taira and began our new chapter as an independent entity with a renewed commitment to fostering innovation and technological advancement.

SBVA

One of the most important factors for successful investing in startups is having a good funnel of startups, which is the whole international market, so that you can invest in the best of the best, and not in those startups that caught your eye. Network.VC is part of an ecosystem with a large funnel of startups, which is formed by Unicorn Battles & CUP Startup.Network VC.House

Network.VC

Silicon Valley Syndicate Club is a fund invests in startups.

Silicon Valley Syndicate Club

Cerence is a software company that is involved in developing mobility-based solutions for drivers and their cars. The customers include automobile original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs.

Cerence

Pinscreen

Pinscreen is an American technology company and VFX studio that develops the most advanced generative AI technologies for film production and interactive experiences with its headquarter in Los Angeles and branch in Abu Dhabi (UAE). The company offers end-to-end solutions for AI lip sync, face reenactment, face swaps, de-aging, and avatar digitization. Pinscreen works with some of the most prolific film makers and production studios, and its customers include Netflix, Amazon Studios, Miramax, Warner Bros, Apple, Google, Adobe, DARPA. Among its accolades, in 2019, Pinscreen developed the first real-time deepfake technology which was presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos, and SIGGRAPH 2020. The company is also the first to demonstrate AI lip sync for a complete feature film, and the ability to process over thousands of 4K HDR movie shots within a year. Pinscreen is part of the NVIDIA Inception Program and won the Epic MegaGrants in 2020. Pinscreen was founded in 2015 by Prof. Hao Li, MIT TR35 winner and Professor of Computer Vision at MBZUAI. He is known for his contributions in Apple’s Animoji technology, the reenactment of Paul Walker in Furious 7, and actively innovates in the space of neural rendering, deepfakes, and digital humans.

Pinscreen offers the Avatar Neo software development kit (SDK), which allows developers to generate high-quality personalized CG characters for games and VR/AR applications from a single photo. Users can use its mobile app to upload a picture, with the company claiming that it is able to return a digital avatar in seconds. As of January 2024, the platform was in beta and was compatible with the Unity and Unreal game engines.

Metaverse Platforms

Pinscreen is a technology company specializing in the creation of instant 3D avatars and digital humans. Founded by Hao Li, former director of the Institute of Creative Technology (ICT) research lead, Pinscreen focuses on developing advanced artificial intelligence and computer vision techniques to generate photorealistic and animatable 3D avatars from single mobile phone images. The company's proprietary technology, known as paGAN (photorealistic avatar GAN), enables the creation of high-fidelity digital humans from just one input picture, without the need for extensive video footage or training data. Pinscreen's approach utilizes deep learning and neural networks to predict accurate facial expressions, hair details, and other features for the avatars.

AND NOW… DIGITAL HUMANS FOR THE REST OF US

Rotoscoping & Chroma Keying

Embraced: a sensual short film created using pinscreen animation

Hao Li — CEO and Co-Founder, Pinscreen

The Art of VFX

Imbuing emotion into human-digital interactions

Digital Humans

Crafting the Future of Digital Avatars: Respeecher, Pinscreen Joins Forces with Motus Lab

Pinscreen offers the Avatar Neo software development kit (SDK), which allows developers to generate high-quality personalized CG characters for games and VR/AR applications from a single photo. Users can use its mobile app to upload a picture, with the company claiming that it is able to return a digital avatar in seconds. As of January 2024, the platform was in beta and was compatible with the Unity and Unreal game engines.Pinscreen also offers two face replacement solutions (a real-time version and a high-fidelity version) based on its proprietary paGAN facial synthesis technology. This enables users to replace their face with any person they want by providing a video or live stream. The technology is targeted for various media applications, such as film and entertainment, as well as TV broadcasts. Further, the company offers real-time 3D face tracking solutions via a video stream or webcam.Key customers and partnershipsKey customers include Apple, Adobe, Netflix, and Amazon Studios, among others.

Gather is a virtual space with web-based video calling capabilities, combined with a 2D pixel art-based map and characters that allow individuals to carry out natural conversations in a multitude of settings (office, university, etc.). The company was a part of the Y Combinator Summer 2019 cohort. The platform also offers private virtual meeting spaces with chat, whiteboards, document, and screen sharing features. Further, Gather also offers integrations with other enterprise applications, such as Slack, Google Calendar, and Google Docs. The company claims to have superior compatibility with spatial technology due to its natively built video conferencing system.It operates with a freemium subscription model that is free for up to 10 users, with paid plans starting at USD 7 per month for up to 500 people. The company also generates revenue for virtual conferences (free for up to 10 users), with paid plans starting at USD 3 per user per day.The company has a long-term vision for the metaverse to freely make work and educational opportunities available worldwide. In line with its vision, Gather has hosted over 20,000 virtual professional events, including academic conferences, job fairs, and professional societies (November 2021).Key customer and partnershipsAs of January 2024, the platform was used by over 1,000 teams, including notable enterprises, such as Y Combinator, Yelp, and Notion.Funding and financialsGather raised USD 50 million in a Series B funding round co-led by Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/6425">November 2021</a>. The fresh funds were expected to be funneled toward expanding its operations and business reach.Key competitors: None under the same stage.

Gather

Mytaverse offers a hardware-agnostic 3D metaverse platform that enables enterprises to digitally host a wide range of activities, such as meetings, conferences, training simulations, and tradeshows. The company also allows for the creation of branded metaverses in the form of functioning environments or digital twins. Mytaverse also provides support for CRM integrations and customer profiles, with support for 50 users on any given virtual world. Further, Mytaverse claims that its tech allows for the creation of photorealistic spaces.Key customers and partnershipsNotable customers included Nike, PepsiCo, Dolby and Dassault Aviation, among others.Funding and financialsIn April 2022, Mytaverse raised USD 7.6 million in a seed funding round led by Blumberg Capital. The funds were raised to accelerate product development, expand sales and tech teams, and further expand interactions with brands and support strategic partnerships. As part of the deal, David Blumberg (founder and managing partner, Blumberg Capital) and John Paul Milciunas (general partner, Baselayer Ventures) were expected to join Mytaverse’s board.

Mytaverse

Alta is the game studio that developed Township Tale, an open-world VR multiplayer game set in a medieval fantasy world. Users can engage in multiplayer experiences that revolve around a wide range of activities such as cooking, crafting, PvE, mining, blacksmithing, and carpentry. The game relies on procedural generation, a method to combine computer and human-generated content on a large scale for mass content creation as its key differentiator.The company generates revenue via 1) sales of its game on the Meta Quest Store, priced at USD 10 and 2) sales of in-game cosmetics, ranging from USD 10-80. Users can also show further support to the game devs via monthly donations of USD 10, with players receiving in-game currency (for the purchase of in-game cosmetics), exclusive in-game discounts and the ability to create a private PC server.In April 2024, the company disclosed that it was developing a dark fantasy-themed VR exclusive game, codenamed ‘Project 2’. Key customers and partnershipsAccording to data from MMO Stats, The company was estimated to have a total of ~850,000 players as of January 2024.Funding and financialsIn its most recent funding round (January 2022), the company raised USD 12.4 million in seed funding co-led by Makers Fund and Andreessen Horowitz. The round valued the company at USD 62 million and the fresh funds were expected to be used to expand its team, create new partnerships, and further develop its technology.

Alta

BitDegree is a cryptocurrency learning platform that offers Learnoverse, a gamified and interactive crypto learning metaverse powered by the blockchain, where users will be able to create their own avatars, collect NFTs exclusive to Learnoverse, explore a virtual world (CryptoDegree City) that is divided into topic-based districts with each building representing a specific educational course on crypto, earn tokens through learning, and eventually obtain crypto-degrees. Course creators will be able to purchase NFT land on the platform and create NFT buildings to represent their courses, and its novel tokenomics will allow instructors to earn from their courses without charging the user.Key customers and partnershipsIn September 2022, the company partnered with web3 mobile development infrastructure provider Mirror World to create a course about Web3 gaming within Learnoverse, and NFT platform Lympo, to enable creators to mint NFTs within Leanoverse.Funding and financialsBitDegree raised over USD 1 million in funding from Japanese/Singaporean venture investor Mistletoe in June 2022. The funds were raised to create innovative methods of learning blockchain, crypto, and Web3-related topics within Learnoverse.

BitDegree

Star Atlas is a space-themed metaverse gaming platform built on the Solana blockchain and Unreal Engine 5. The game allows users to interact, organize, and explore unknown regions in space, alongside joining factions and harvesting resources. The platform includes assets that are tokenized, which provides users ownership over these unique assets and enables them to generate income through these assets. Star Atlas' in-game economy and governance is run using its native currencies, POLIS and ATLAS, and, as of May 2022, the platform had nearly 100,000 players.In May 2024, the company announced that it would launch Star Atlas on mobile Android and iOS by the end of the year.The company also developed the SAGE Labs browser-based open-world game in August 2023, which focuses on deep space resource extraction and crafting.Key customers and partnershipsIn July 2023, the company partnered with blockchain indexer Hello Moon, aiming to bolster the scalability and robustness of Star Atlas real-time data handling capabilities, effectively replacing its proprietary in-house solution. Additionally, the company partnered with Web3 company MetaGravity in the same month to scale its concurrent player count on a single server to 30,000 from 5,000.Funding and financialsIn December 2021, Star Atlas received USD 3 million in funding from Animoca Brands in the form of a purchase commitment of Star Atlas NFT spaceships. The NFT spaceships sold to Animoca Brands were part of Star Atlas’ Galactic Asset Offering (GAO) and all the revenue from asset sales from its GAO was expected to be used to further develop the Star Atlas metaverse.

Star Atlas

Platforms that offer collaborative 2D and 3D environments for enterprise and education-related use cases

Platforms that facilitate entertainment-focused virtual events and concerts

Platforms that focus on multiplayer gaming experiences in virtual worlds

Platforms that focus on social interaction, experience creation, and virtual land purchases

Platforms that enable the creation of avatars that are used as digital identities in metaverse platforms

Platforms that offer virtual worlds for multiplayer social gaming experiences enable users to create experiences and conduct transactions (e.g. buying virtual land)

Virtual worlds and web3 are the primary enabling technologies for the metaverse industry

Work platforms offer virtual spaces for enterprise use cases

Some solutions in the gaming platforms segment use AI for non-playable characters (NPCs)

Some gaming and social metaverses are decentralized, with features such as play-to-earn and NFT minting

Social gaming and pure-play social platforms facilitate virtual land transactions using crypto

Most solutions in this hub use AR/VR for virtual events, enterprise, and social/gaming use cases

Pinscreen is a technology company specializing in the creation of instant 3D avatars and digital humans. Founded by Hao Li, former director of the Institute of Creative Technology (ICT) research lead, Pinscreen focuses on developing advanced artificial intelligence and computer vision techniques to generate photorealistic and animatable 3D avatars from single mobile phone images. The company's proprietary technology, known as paGAN (photorealistic avatar GAN), enables the creation of high-fidelity digital humans from just one input picture, without the need for extensive video footage or training data. Pinscreen's approach utilizes deep learning and neural networks to predict accurate facial expressions, hair details, and other features for the avatars.
The company's technology has applications across various industries, including video games, fashion, visual effects, and communication platforms. Pinscreen has demonstrated its capabilities through projects like PinScape, an immersive chat application showcased at SIGGRAPH 2021's Real-Time Live! event. This VR-based communication system generates full-body avatars complete with rigged faces and bodies from a single selfie taken with a webcam. Pinscreen's technology aims to democratize the creation of complex 3D content, allowing anyone to capture and share immersive stories easily.
Key customers and partnerships
Pinscreen has been involved in the visual effects industry, contributing to high-profile projects. The company was listed among the VFX vendors for the Fallout TV series, released in April 2024 on Prime Video. This collaboration showcases Pinscreen's ability to work alongside established visual effects studios in major productions.

Inworld AI is a developer platform for creating AI-driven virtual characters for gaming, metaverse, and interactive experiences. Founded in July 2021 by Ilya Gelfenbeyn, Michael Ermolenko, and Kylan Gibbs, the company offers a Character Engine that uses advanced AI to build generative characters with personalities, thoughts, memories, and behaviors designed to mimic human interaction. Inworld's no-code studio allows writers, designers, and creators to easily develop AI characters that can be integrated into popular game engines like Unreal and Unity.
The company's technology goes beyond existing large language models and chatbots, orchestrating multiple machine learning models to enable multimodal character expression. Inworld's AI characters can learn, adapt, navigate relationships with emotional intelligence, have memory and recall, and autonomously initiate goals and actions. This allows for more dynamic and immersive experiences compared to traditional scripted non-player characters (NPCs) in games and virtual worlds. As of August 2023, Inworld AI had raised approximately USD 120 million in funding and was valued at over USD 500 million. The company plans to launch an open-source version of its Character Engine to further innovation in the gaming industry.
Key customers and partnerships
Inworld AI has worked with several notable companies and projects to implement its AI character technology. The company has created AI-driven NPC experiences for Team Miaozi (NetEase Games), Niantic 8th Wall, LG UPlus, and Alpine Electronics. Inworld's technology has also been used in community-created mods for popular games like Skyrim, Stardew Valley, and Grand Theft Auto V. In 2022, as part of the Disney Accelerator program, Inworld demonstrated a 'Droid Maker' prototype created in collaboration with ILM Immersive. The company's Character Engine is featured in Unity's AI Marketplace as a Unity Verified Solution, and Inworld has received an Epic MegaGrant from Epic Games. Additionally, Inworld AI has integrated its technology with Unreal Engine's MetaHumans to enhance character creation capabilities.

Inworld AI

Soul Machines, founded in 2016 by Greg Cross and Academy Award winner Mark Sagar, develops hyper-realistic, autonomously animated digital people powered by its proprietary Biological AI technology and Digital Brain. The company's platform enables the creation of AI-driven avatars that can interact with users in real-time through natural language processing and emotional responses. The Digital Brain contains layers of AI-driven reciprocal human systems that simulate the human nervous system, enabling realistic emotional responses and dynamic conversations. Through its Soul Machines Studio platform, users can design and deploy customized digital people that integrate with GPT 3 and four to create engaging AI experiences. As of March 2024, the average conversation length with a Soul Machines Digital Person is 20 minutes. The company offers various subscription plans ranging from a free tier to a USD 2,700 per month professional plan. In September 2023, Julie Kim replaced Greg Cross as CEO, and Mark Sagar departed his role as Chief Scientific Officer in June 2024. The company's headcount reduced from 253 in July 2023 to 70 in July 2024.
Key customers and partnerships
Soul Machines has collaborated with several major organizations including the World Health Organization, Heineken, Walden University, BankABC, and Morningstar. In the entertainment sector, Soul Machines has partnered with celebrities to create digital twins, including basketball player Carmelo Anthony, golf legend Jack Nicklaus, and K-pop star Mark Tuan. In March 2024, the company partnered with Authentic Brands Group to launch Digital Marilyn, an AI-powered version of Marilyn Monroe.

Soul Machines

DeepBrain AI is a deep-learning-based video synthesis company specializing in AI-generated virtual humans. The company's flagship product, AI Studios, enables users to create high-definition videos featuring virtual humans by simply typing a script. DeepBrain AI's technology utilizes real-time artificial intelligence and video synthesis to generate realistic human-like AI avatars, reducing the cost and time of video production while improving digital engagement quality. The platform offers over 100 AI avatars proficient in more than 80 languages and voices, catering to diverse ethnicities and professions.
DeepBrain AI's solutions have applications across various industries, including media, finance, commerce, hospitality, and education. In March 2023, the company launched AI Studios 2.0, integrating ChatGPT for enhanced script generation. This release contributed to a 900% revenue growth for the quarter and a 533% increase in the user base. DeepBrain AI also introduced AI Interview in May 2023, combining generative AI video with OpenAI's large language model to streamline the interview screening process. The company's technology has been utilized in innovative ways, such as creating an AI avatar for a person diagnosed with ALS to help them communicate and stay connected.
As of July 2023, DeepBrain AI reported significant growth, doubling its US team size over the previous year. The company has established partnerships with major technology firms, joining the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network and becoming part of Lenovo's AI Innovator partner ecosystem. DeepBrain AI's commitment to innovation has been recognized with multiple awards, including the CES Innovation Awards in 2022 and 2023.

DeepBrain AI

Digital Domain is a renowned visual effects company founded in 1993 by film director James Cameron, visual effects pioneer Scott Ross, and make-up effects creator Stan Winston. The company specializes in creating visual effects for feature films, television, and other media. Digital Domain has worked on over 500 films, including blockbusters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Dune franchise, and award-winning productions like Titanic and RRR. The company has earned three Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects and has contributed to six of the top 20 highest-grossing films globally.
Digital Domain's technology portfolio includes Masquerade, a facial motion capture system used in films like Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. In April 2024, the company introduced Masquerade3, an advanced markerless facial capture technology that eliminates the need for tracking markers on actors' faces. This innovation aims to streamline production processes, reduce costs, and improve the quality of facial animations.
The company is expanding its focus beyond entertainment, exploring applications of its technology in sectors such as banking, education, elderly services, and tourism. In July 2024, Digital Domain announced plans to invest USUSD 26 million in a new research and development center at Hong Kong Science Park. This facility will concentrate on developing AI-powered virtual humans and advancing AI video production technology.
Despite its technological achievements, Digital Domain has faced financial challenges. After declaring bankruptcy in 2012, the company was acquired by Hong Kong-based Sun Innovation Holdings. In 2023, Digital Domain reported a 23% decline in revenue and a 45% decrease in gross profit compared to the previous year, resulting in its ninth consecutive year of financial losses.

Digital Domain

ObEN is an artificial intelligence company specializing in the creation of Personal AI (PAI) technology. Founded in 2014 and based in Pasadena, California, ObEN develops customized, intelligent digital avatars that can mimic the appearance, voice, and behavior of real individuals. The company's technology allows for the creation of digital likenesses capable of speaking in the user's voice in multiple languages, using only a small sample of speech and image data. These digital personas, known as PAIs, can be utilized in various applications including smartphone apps, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), gaming, and social networking.
ObEN's full-stack AI technology enables the rapid generation of 3D avatars from 2D selfies, complete with voice conversion capabilities and chatbot features. The company's products allow users and brands to create intelligent digital personas that can be customized to represent any person or character imaginable. ObEN's PAI Studio SaaS platform enables creators, enterprises, and developers to build, manage, and monetize unique interactive experiences using conversational, animated PAIs. This technology facilitates the economical generation of livestream, interactive, or video content.
Key customers and partnerships
ObEN has collaborated with several high-profile clients and partners. In February 2020, the company announced a partnership with Yoshimoto Kogyo, a major Japanese entertainment conglomerate, to bring AI-powered avatar technology to the Japanese market. This collaboration aimed to combine Yoshimoto's entertainment and celebrity IP with ObEN's avatar technology to revolutionize digital interactions between celebrities and fans.
ObEN has also worked with China Central Television (CCTV), creating AI avatars that appeared on the Network Spring Festival Gala in February 2019, which was viewed by nearly 300 million people. ObEN has developed celebrity avatars for Chinese music group SNH48 and formed a joint venture called AI Stars with S.M. Entertainment, Korea's largest entertainment company. This venture aims to connect celebrities with their fans through personalized AI avatars. Additionally, ObEN has worked on projects for investors and clients including SoftBank and NBA stars, demonstrating the wide-ranging applications of its technology across various industries.

ObEN

Digital humans that engage in two-way conversations for customer service and employee training

Digital humans that deliver responsive interactions for virtual events, social media, and entertainment

Interactive digital humans for applications in education, fashion, sports, and others

Digital humans for one-way customer and employee communications, including presentations, training modules, or informational videos, and the like

Digital humans as characters in movies, news reporting, virtual events, and television shows without two-way user interaction

Digital humans as characters for video games without two-way user interaction

Digital humans for applications in fashion, education, sports, and others without two-way user interaction

Several digital humans are integrated with GenAI models

NLP is used by digital humans to understand, process, and generate natural language

AI and ML are used in digital humans to process data and generate responses

Digital humans can be deployed in the metaverse for a variety of purposes, such as virtual customer service, virtual events, and virtual social interactions.

Pinscreen

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