Led by a founder who sold a video startup to Apple, Panjaya uses deepfake techniques to bite into video dubbing
There’s a big opportunity for generative AI in the world of translation, and a startup called Panjaya is taking the concept to the next level
There’s a big opportunity for generative AI in the world of translation, and a startup called Panjaya is taking the concept to the next level: a hyperrealistic, gen AI-based dubbing tool for videos that re-creates a person’s original voice speaking the new language, with the video and the speaker’s physical movements automatically modifying to match up naturally with the new speech patterns.
After being in stealth for the last three years, the startup is unveiling BodyTalk, the first version of its product, alongside its first outside funding of $9.5 million.
Panjaya is the brainchild of Hilik Shani and Ariel Shalom, two deep learning specialists who have spent the majority of their professional lives quietly working on deep learning technology for the Israeli government and are now respectively the startup’s general manager and CTO. They hung up their G-man hats in 2021 with the startup itch, and 1.5 years ago, they were joined by Guy Piekarz as CEO.
Piekarz is not a founder at Panjaya, but he is a notable name to have onboard: Back in 2013, he sold a startup that he did found to Apple. Matcha, as the startup was called, was an early, buzzy player in streaming video discovery and recommendation, and it was acquired during the very early days of Apple’s TV and streaming strategy, when these were more rumors than actual products. Matcha was bootstrapped and sold for a song: $10 million to $15 million — modest considering the significant steer Apple eventually made into streamed media.
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