Kaltura Buys eSelf, Snap AI Founder’s Startup, for $27M

In a significant move to expand its artificial intelligence capabilities, Kaltura has acquired eSelf.ai for approximately $27 million, integrating advanced conversational avatar technology into its video platform. This strategic purchase allows the New York-based AI video company to enhance user interaction through photorealistic digital humans capable of real-time communication. The eSelf platform supports more than thirty languages and provides a straightforward studio environment for designing, personalizing, and launching these lifelike avatars.

Founded in 2023 by CEO Alan Bekker and CTO Eylon Shoshan, eSelf brings specialized knowledge in speech-to-video generation, low-latency speech recognition, and screen interpretation. Bekker previously sold his startup Voca to Snap in 2020, establishing his credentials in natural language processing and computer vision. Both founders will transition to Kaltura, guiding the technological integration, and all current eSelf staff members will join them. Kaltura’s CEO Ron Yekutiel highlighted that the eSelf team consists of about fifteen highly skilled AI professionals, emphasizing Bekker’s leadership in conversational speech bot development.

Kaltura provides a comprehensive set of cloud-based video tools, from corporate video portals resembling private YouTube channels to webinar and virtual event solutions. Its integrations also allow universities to embed video learning directly into their course management systems. As a publicly traded company on Nasdaq, Kaltura delivers virtual classroom products and complete television streaming services. Its platform is used by more than eight hundred enterprise clients across diverse sectors such as sales, marketing, customer service, education, and entertainment. Notable customers include Amazon, Oracle, Salesforce, SAP, Adobe, IBM, and various financial, consulting, pharmaceutical, and academic institutions.

The integration of eSelf’s virtual agent technology will enable Kaltura’s video services to include agents that listen, speak, and understand user screens in real time. Yekutiel described the acquisition as highly strategic, noting that after evaluating several candidates, eSelf stood out for its superior real-time conversational abilities and robust speech-to-text and text-to-speech systems. He also pointed to strong cultural and geographic compatibility as decisive factors.

Kaltura’s vision involves shifting from traditional video streaming toward interactive, video-based customer and employee experiences. Instead of offering just a digital face, the company aims to deliver complete workflows combining avatars, intelligence, and enterprise knowledge to achieve tangible business outcomes. Plans include launching standalone, embeddable agents for sales, marketing, customer support, and training, targeting industries like education, media, telecom, e-commerce, finance, healthcare, and pharmaceuticals.

When questioned about rumors that Kaltura was considering a sale or merger valued between $400 million and $500 million, Yekutiel clarified that while the company has explored various opportunities, including acquisitions, mergers with peers, and partnerships with larger entities, no such transaction was imminent. He cited Kaltura’s ongoing acquisition activity, with eSelf representing its fourth purchase, as proof of its dedication to current strategic goals.

This acquisition is Kaltura’s fourth to date, following the purchases of cloud TV provider Tvinci in 2014, Rapt Media in 2018, and Newrow, a video conferencing platform, in 2020. eSelf had last secured funding, $4.5 million, in December 2024. Since going public in 2021, Kaltura has achieved roughly $180 million in annual revenue, maintains profitability on an adjusted EBITDA and cash flow basis, and employs about six hundred people.

(Source: TechCrunch)