Kaltura, an innovative NY AI video platform, took an exciting jump forward by acquiring eSelf.ai. This smart little AI-based traffic management startup from Israel is the smart little acquisition for about $27 million. This strategic partnership will enhance Kaltura’s capabilities in the increasingly AI-driven video landscape. It’s mainly concerned with the creation of conversational avatars—AI-generated digital humans that can interact with users in an intelligent and dynamic way.
Founded only two years ago, eSelf.ai already employs a team of 15 AI specialists. These experts have deep technical expertise in foundational speech-to-video generation technologies, low-latency speech recognition, and screen understanding, among other areas. The startup’s tech lets those avatars see whatever’s on a user’s screen. In this way, they’re able to react in the moment, leading to more lifelike, captivating exchanges.
When announcing this acquisition, Kaltura’s CEO, Ron Yekutiel, emphasized the significance of this deal. He told me that eSelf.ai is “best-in-class for real-time, synchronous conversation. He reiterated that Kaltura was still seeking a strategic partner and still in the process of evaluating multiple possibilities. Eventually he decided that eSelf.ai always came out on top because of their superior speech-to-text and text-to-speech technology stack.
“This acquisition was so strategic. We were actively evaluating multiple companies to find the right fit. We determined that they [eSelf] were best-in-class for real-time, synchronous conversation — not just video-on-demand lip-syncing — and that they had an impressive speech-to-text and text-to-speech technology stack,” – Ron Yekutiel
Beyond technological capabilities, Yekutiel recognized the cultural and geographic interplay between the two companies as critical. He continued, “It wasn’t just the tech; there was a very strong cultural fit, a very strong geographic alignment too, and that was really important to us. This chime in is further paving the way for better integration and collaboration between Kaltura and eSelf.ai in the future.
The acquisition fits into Kaltura’s longstanding plan to advance its product suite to address consumer needs. Yekutiel explained how the company has progressively enhanced its offerings: “We started with video, then moved to personalized video, and now, with eSelf’s technology, we’re adding human-like capabilities — faces, eyes, mouths, ears — to make our AI agents conversational and expressive.” This evolution offers a much deeper level of user engagement. It furthers tangible business outcomes and increases ROI too.
Kaltura continues to thrive at a phenomenal pace. More recently, the company has been pursuing big mergers and acquisitions to further its strategic goals. According to reports, the agency is considering a sale or merger. They’re reportedly looking for a valuation between $400 million and $500 million. Kaltura, known for its video platform, is increasing its footprint by acquiring eSelf.ai. This recent step continues its trend of buying companies, including cloud TV solution Tvinci in 2014, Rapt Media in 2018, and video conferencing platform Newrow in 2020.
Yekutiel noted the expertise that eSelf.ai adds to Kaltura’s portfolio. And so he’s an expert [in this field], and that’s what we purchased. This comes as further confirmation of Kaltura’s continued drive to invest in the best talent available to significantly improve its technology platform and overall market position.
As Kaltura integrates eSelf.ai’s cutting-edge technology into its platform, industry observers will be keenly watching how this acquisition impacts the company’s future offerings and competitive landscape in the AI video market.