Bulgaria's LAUNCHub Ventures backs AI startup Colossyan

The round was led by UK-based venture capital firm Lakestar and joined by existing investors such as Day One, Emerge, Oktogon and several angel investors, LAUNCHub Ventures told SeeNews in an emailed statement.

The financial injection will fuel Colossyan's expansion and innovation in the AI-driven video production market, strengthening its position as a leader in digital learning and communication solutions.

The platform uses advanced generative AI for its learning and development text-to-video technology, reducing video production time and costs. Upon receiving a script, it creates videos with realistic digital actors, known as avatars.

In 2023, Colossyan raised $5 million in a funding round led by LAUNCHub Ventures, which facilitated the growth of its engineering and AI research teams, paving the way for expansion into key global markets such as London and New York.

"After we make our initial investment of between 500,000 and 2 million euro, we set aside up to 4-5 million euro more for subsequent investments in the companies. Usually in the next round, we look to at least fulfil our pro-rata and maintain our stake in the company," LAUNCHub Ventures general partner Stanislav Sirakov said in response to a SeeNews enquiry.

Colossyan's solution, launched in 2022, has 2,000 clients across 46 countries, including organisations like Porsche, Vodafone, BASF, Paramount, BMW and HPE. In 2023, it booked a 650% growth in recurring annual revenue.

LAUNCHub Ventures, with a current fund of 74 million euro, focuses on early-stage tech startups in Central and Southeastern Europe and diaspora founders in global technological hubs.

($ = 0.9306 euro)