AI allows anyone to create videos, but many AI video creation tools don’t support audio. Mirelo is building an AI that adds soundtracks to accompany the action in your videos.
Earlier this year, the Berlin-based startup released Mirelo SFX v1.5, an AI model that interprets videos and adds synchronized sound effects (SFX).
This caught the attention of VCs who are gearing up for a generative AI revolution in gaming. The two-year-old German startup has raised $41 million in a seed round led by Index Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz, TechCrunch exclusively reports.
This new capital will help Mirero compete more effectively in emerging categories. Although still in stealth mode and with limited resources, big companies like Sony and Tencent released video-to-SFX models. So are China’s Kling AI, owned by Kuaishou, and Celebrities, also backed by a16z.
Mirero is already different from them in its narrow focus, but to beat these models in the long run, startups will need to make additional hires. In total, the startup expects its 10-person team to “double, if not triple” its headcount by the end of next year, Mirelo CEO and co-founder CJ Simon-Gabriel told TechCrunch.
These new employees will support Mirero’s research and development as well as product and go-to-market strategies. The company publishes its models on Fal.ai and Replicate, and expects API usage to generate most of its revenue in the short term, Simon-Gabriel said. But the company is also investing in building a workspace for creators called Mirelo Studio, which could eventually support full professional use.
As Mirelo prepares to scale, the startup and its investors also anticipate concerns about training data that have dogged other generative AI companies. Georgia Stevenson, who led Index’s investment, said Mirero bases its model on publicly available and purchased sound libraries, with revenue-sharing partnerships that respect artist rights.
While this is a particular tension in generative AI tools, Mirelo is not replacing musicians and sound designers (at least not yet). With a freemium model that includes a recommended plan for creators that costs 20 euros (about $23.50) per month, the startup is primarily targeting amateurs and prosumers who want to unmute AI-generated videos.
According to Simon-Gabriel, creators won’t be able to take full advantage of this new potential without audio.
“George Lucas said that 50 percent of the moviegoing experience is sound, and that’s not an exaggeration.” “If anything, that’s an understatement. You can take exactly the same image, but depending on the sound and music you put in it, the sound will form a completely different atmosphere.”
He and co-founder Florian Wenzel are AI researchers and musicians themselves, and the startup has AI music generation on its roadmap. However, Simon Gabriel said Mirero is seeing increased interest in sound effects, in part because they are less well researched than other AI fields.
“It’s easier to build a real moat here and take advantage of it,” he pointed out.
This could pay off for Mirello. Simon Gabriel declined to disclose the new valuation, but said it was a “very significant” increase compared to the previously undisclosed pre-seed round. This initial round was led by Berlin-based Atlantic, which also participated in the new funding, bringing Mirero’s total raised to $44 million and helping to close a resource gap.
The startup is also backed by angels who lend credibility to the technology and potentially open new doors, including Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch, Hugging Face Chief Scientific Officer Thomas Wolff, and Fal.ai co-founder Barkai Garr.
Still, the team acknowledges that AI-generated videos may not remain muted for long.
For example, Gemini’s video generator includes a built-in soundtrack that leverages DeepMind’s Veo 3.1 video-audio model. But if anything, it seems like Simon-Gabriel is being vindicated. “Now all of a sudden people realize, ‘Oh, maybe we should add some sound.’ But, of course, you have to add some. It’s like a silent movie versus a talkie movie, right? It makes quite a difference!”
