TLDR
- Hedra raised $32 million in Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, bringing total funding to $44 million
- The AI video platform uses Character-3 foundation model to create lifelike digital characters for video content
- Founded by Michael Lingelbach, whose theatre background inspired the focus on character-driven storytelling
- Hedra is expanding from creator economy to enterprise marketing, helping companies produce video content quickly
- The company plans to triple its 20-person team by year-end
Hedra, an AI video generation platform, announced today it has raised $32 million in Series A funding to expand its AI-powered video creation tools to enterprise marketers. The funding round was led by Andreessen Horowitz’s Infrastructure fund (a16z Infra), with participation from existing investors including a16z speedrun, Abstract, and Index Ventures.
The investment brings Hedra’s total funding to $44 million since its last fundraise in 2024. The San Francisco-based company has already powered the creation of over 10 million lifelike videos through its platform.
Hedra’s technology centers on its Character-3 foundation model, which the company describes as the first “omnimodal” foundation model that combines text, image, and audio to create character performance videos. The model works across various styles and framings, from cinematic full-body shots to close-ups.
The platform aims to solve a common problem for marketers: traditional video production is often expensive and time-consuming, with costs potentially reaching thousands of dollars per minute. Hedra’s AI-driven approach allows teams to create high-quality content featuring digital characters much faster.
From Theatre to AI Video
Founder and CEO Michael Lingelbach’s background as a theatre actor before pursuing a PhD at Stanford heavily influenced Hedra’s direction. His experience on stage shaped his belief that characters form the heart of every story.
“We’re building the next generation of storytelling technology to empower content creators and enterprise marketers to tell narratives at scale on their own,” said Lingelbach. “Getting over the uncanny valley of compelling performance is the hardest frontier in video, and with our Character-3 foundation model, we’re devoted to crossing it.”
Since launching in 2024, Hedra has attracted over 2.5 million users, including social media creators and enterprise teams looking to streamline video production. The company mentions Jon LaJoie and Reid Hoffman among its users.
The platform enables the creation of various digital characters, from professional spokespersons to animated brand mascots or animal-style characters. Users can transform simple ideas into visual stories with minimal effort through Hedra Studio.
Enterprise Expansion
While initially popular with content creators, Hedra is now focusing on bringing its technology to enterprise marketers who need to produce character-driven video content at scale. This shift comes as marketing teams face pressure to do more with fewer resources in a tight economic climate.
“This kind of creative agility is no longer just a nice-to-have — it’s essential for capturing attention in an increasingly crowded digital landscape,” Lingelbach stated.
Matt Bornstein, Partner at Andreessen Horowitz who has joined Hedra’s board, commented: “Hedra is building foundational technology for the next generation of media. Character-3 is a breakthrough model that integrates text, video, and audio to create highly controllable, expressive characters.”
Hedra differentiates itself from competitors by offering a unified solution that integrates story, sound, and video generation into one workflow. Teams can create customizable digital characters with unique appearances, voices, and personalities.
The company currently employs 20 people and plans to triple its headcount by the end of the year. Hedra aims to become the creative canvas for the next generation of media creators by combining AI models with intuitive creation tools.
The company’s platform is available at hedra.com, where users can explore its AI-powered video creation capabilities.
