It’s rare to see a startup finally come of age so enthusiastically, it basically rewrites the rulebook for its entire industry.
But Synthesia just did that. Some have speculated the market will be worth around $1 billion, and if that is remotely accurate, then with its relatively under-the-radar shift from a kind of niche firm for dubbing to making full-blown enterprise video generation – with interactive features and more – it already stands at an annual recurring revenue figure of over $100 million. That’s not small change.
When Synthesia first launched, also in 2017, the intention was to support entertainment companies with AI-made content dubbing.
The problem? It seems that slice was simply too small for the kind of serious growth Mixpanel wanted to achieve.
So the company did something smart: it reframed its product not for studios, but for everyone – small businesses, global enterprises, internal comms teams, HR departments, the works.
The new strategy worked – and then some. By April 2025, Synthesia says it reached the $100 million annual recurring revenue milestone.
The number of clients committing more than $100,000 per contract has quadrupled in the past year.
Net revenue retention comes in at a healthy 140%. In plain English: Not only is Synthesia adding new customers, but existing ones are returning – and spending more.
But big growth has risks. Sales surged 82% to $58 million in 2024, although the company’s pre-tax losses doubled over that period to $59 million.
The reason? Heavy spending around new product development, including infrastructure that could churn through thousands of videos a day for big corporations, and shoring up their security and content moderation efforts – in part as a response to legitimate fears over misuse of synthetic media.
What’s really got people talking this time, however, is the launch of Synthesia 3.0 -and with it the leap from video generation to fully interactive video experiences.
Think in-video quizzes, clickable features, and even artificial-intelligence agents that can answer you back immediately, tailor their responses to your reaction (itchy nose?
Their expression changes), or serve up different content based on who’s watching. All of a sudden, video isn’t fixed anymore - it’s an interactive interface.
This kind of pivot is important – because it’s not just convenience we’re talking about.
For global companies wanting to educate thousands of employees in a variety of languages, pivot compliance materials or simply delivery standardized messaging across the regions, Synthesia’s ascent could potentially be a radical cost- and time-saver.
Traditional video production - lights, cameras, actors – seems slow and expensive by comparison.
You know what, though? It’s not all sunshine and smooth avatars. Thousands of videos being shot everyday from scores of enterprises in a room creates huge technical and operational challenges.
According to company insiders, setting up the infrastructure, aligning teams and maintaining data security – all at an accelerated rate and at a low price point – was “no walk in the park.” And history has shown that companies that grow too fast can hit turbulence.
And on a personal level – I’m all over the place. To that extent, it feels magical to see a video formats as cumbersome and costly turn into what is now little more than paste a text, click on “generate.”
It’s watching the democratization of media creation go down in real time. On the other hand, I can’t help thinking about ethics: who owns these AI-generated faces and voices?
How do we prevent abuse in the name of misinformation or manipulation?
So here’s a thought: Maybe if you run a business, or even just manage a small team, it’s time to start looking at video production in a whole new way.
AI video isn’t just cheap and quick; it’s becoming a medium that adjusts, engages and interacts. But responsibility comes with that power.
If you decide to go for it, perhaps mix the speed of A.I. with a generous helping of human judgment.
Because at the end of the day, there needs to be a soul to the story – and humans are still the only things that can do that.