HeyGen lets you type a script and get a photorealistic AI avatar reading it in 175 languages. It started life as a tool called Movio and hit $35 million in annual revenue faster than almost any AI startup on record. Then it kept going. By June 2026 it had passed $200 million in annual recurring revenue, having raised only about $75 million ever. The catch is that the same tech which makes marketing videos also makes very convincing deepfakes. HeyGen is betting it can be the good version before the bad version defines the category.
Founded
2020
HQ
Los Angeles, USA
Total Raised
About $74.6 million
Founder
Joshua Xu, Wayne Liang
Status
Private
Verified Sep 2026
Website
www.heygen.comTHE ORIGIN STORY
HeyGen began in 2020 as Movio, built by Joshua Xu and Wayne Liang. Xu had worked as an engineer at Snap on ad systems.
He kept seeing how slow and expensive it was to make marketing videos. So the pair built software that turns a plain script into a video of a digital presenter.
No camera, no actor, no studio. They rebranded to HeyGen in 2023.
The company has roots in Shenzhen but moved its base to Los Angeles.
WHAT THEY ACTUALLY DO
Companies pay HeyGen a monthly subscription to make videos without cameras, actors, or studios. A marketing team types a script.
HeyGen generates a lifelike avatar that speaks it. Pricing runs from a free tier up to enterprise plans.
The bigger money is in business customers who need hundreds of localized videos. Instead of reshooting an ad in ten languages, they click a button.
THE PRODUCTS
The core product is AI Avatar, which turns text into a video of a digital presenter. Video Translation clones a voice and lip-syncs it into 175 languages.
Photo Avatar animates a single still image into a talking head. Interactive Avatar powers real-time AI agents that can hold a conversation on video.
HOW THEY GREW
HeyGen grew on the back of the generative AI wave and a very shareable product. People posted AI avatar clips on X and TikTok, which did the marketing for free.
Its video translation demo, which cloned a speaker's voice and lip-synced them into another language, went viral in 2023. Annual recurring revenue went from about $1 million to $35 million in roughly a year, then kept compounding.
It passed $200 million in June 2026, doubling in eight months, on less than $75 million of total funding.
THE HARD PART
Deepfakes. The same avatar tech can clone a real person without permission.
HeyGen has had to build moderation, consent checks, and watermarking to keep bad actors out. Then there is competition.
Synthesia, D-ID, and every big AI lab are chasing the same market. HeyGen's edge is speed and quality.
Both are hard to defend when the underlying models keep improving for everyone.
MONEY TRAIL
Seed
2023 · Led by Basis Set Ventures
$9M raised
Seed Extension
2023 · Led by Conviction
$6M raised
$75M valuation
Series A
2024 · Led by Benchmark
$60M raised
$500M valuation
WHO BACKED THEM
HeyGen's earliest backers included Sequoia China (now HongShan) and ZhenFund. In 2023 it raised a $9 million seed led by Basis Set Ventures.
That November Sarah Guo's Conviction put in $5.6 million at a $75 million valuation and took HongShan's board seat, part of the company's move away from its Chinese investors. Benchmark then led the $60 million Series A in June 2024 at a $500 million valuation, with partner Eric Vishria joining the board.
Total funding is about $74.6 million. That is a tiny number next to what it now earns.
Related Profiles
Head-to-Head
Compare HeyGen vs another company.