Video generation and editing platform D-ID said Tuesday it had acquired Berlin-based B2B video creation platform Simpleshow. The company did not disclose the financial terms of the transaction.
Simpleshow’s products will work under the umbrella of D-ID and will eventually merge the two platforms, Gil Perry, CEO of D-ID, told TechCrunch.
Founded in 2008, Simpleshow raised more than $20 million in funding, according to data from CrunchBase.
The startup has offices in Berlin, Luxembourg, London, Miami, Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo. As part of the merger, we own integrated offices in Berlin, Tel Aviv and the United States. D-ID did not mention the team size for SimpleShow, but said that the combined entities had 140 employees.
“Simpleshow initially approached us because of a strategic partnership. We found there to be a synergy between the management team and the product,” says Perry. “We felt we needed to speed up capturing a large (part of the enterprise avatar video) market. We thought that getting something simple would give us the boost we needed.”
Both companies see a powerful future for digital avatars against a variety of video types, including training, marketing and sales. D-ID already has a suite of interactive avatars powered by AI that it offers to clients.
When he joined the company more than a decade ago, Simpleshow CEO Karsten Boehrs said he is a agency that produces videos primarily for businesses and businesses.
“We have decided to build a SaaS-based technology platform to achieve scale and serve more clients internationally,” Boehrs told TechCrunch. “One of the first tools we launched was a text-to-video tool for clients in 2017.”
Boehrs added that the rise of AI has launched a potential partnership conversation with companies like Sythesia in recent years, and will eventually land and be acquired by D-ID.
In addition to its products, Simpleshow brings over 1,500 enterprise clients including Adobe, Audio, Airbus, Microsoft, Bayer, HP, T-Mobile, McDonald’s, eBay, and Deutsche Bank. D-ID’s Perry said this will boost the company’s revenue and bring it closer to profitability.
In the future, D-ID hopes to create interactive training videos. This will cause users to suspend videos presented by their avatars, ask questions and take quizzes.
D-ID is in fierce competition for corporate recruitment of digital avatars in companies such as Sythesia and Soul Machine. Companies such as Google and McKinsey are also developing solutions that allow clients to use digital avatars.
D-ID has raised $60 million in funding so far. The company said it had secured funds to bankroll the acquisition but did not disclose the money.
