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Aug X Labs has raised $1 million in seed funding to use AI to democratize video creation by content creators.
The New York company is building an AI-based visual storytelling platform that automatically converts text or audio cues into targeted videos that grab your attention. The platform, today in limited alpha, is aimed at any business or creative professional that uses video to create ads, product demos, sizzle reels, business update videos, and any other form of visual storytelling.
The company wants its product to be used by small businesses, advertisers, marketers, podcasters, and other independent content creators to help them achieve their video-driven goals more cheaply, faster, and easier.
Aug X Labs created the video embedded in this post about the GamesBeat Summit Next event in about 10 minutes, starting with just a prompt. You can basically collect media and text, run it through the engine and then get a short video that brings it all together. The product is now in alpha phase.
Aug X Labs was founded by serial entrepreneur Jeremy Toeman (CEO), along with Scott Havird (CTO) and JT White (chief product officer and chief of staff).
Toeman said in an interview that the idea came to fruition after working on a lot of cool AI technology for video processing.
“I started to realize that I don’t really know how to make videos other than recording something crazy on my phone or webcam. But if I really wanted to add special effects or something cooler than that, I couldn’t,” Toeman said. “And so I started doing this tutorial in the midst of the pandemic. It has become clear that the process of creating videos is very, very time consuming and difficult for most people.”
The company’s platform allows users to automatically augment their video creations with open or licensed media (photos, short clips, etc.), generative media (AI Art), and proprietary media. Aug X Labs is also integrated with Unsplash, the leading free image platform for global creators, allowing users to add professional-quality content to their videos.
It also supports generative AI art, which has exploded this year. StabilityAI’s stable diffusion text-to-
image model using Replicate.com API wrappers. The combination of leveraging existing media with generative content allows storytellers to create powerful images without the overhead of learning complicated technology.
Rivals include TikTok and YouTube, as well as lesser-known tools for professional creators. The AugX tool has ways to quickly switch between videos if you need to move or rearrange things. It is ideal for making videos that are about 30 seconds to a minute in length. Instead of taking many hours to do that, it can now be done in an hour or less.
Toeman doesn’t think this will make video editors out of work.
“For creators, let’s make them do the same thing professionals do, but get rid of the boring parts of the work,” Toeman said.
He noted that video tools like Final Cut Pro aren’t really as accessible as they could be to the masses. Toeman and Havird founded the company in January and started building the platform.
“The idea we had at the time was that someone could give us a prompt that could be written in words like a transcript or marketing materials or a conference brochure or some other written starting point,” Toeman said. “Or audio, podcasts, a lecture or another video. And we have to make something creative. That’s what we’re aiming for.”
Yohei Nakajima, CEO of Untappd.VC and investor in Aug X Labs, said in a statement: “The explosion of AI
generative media created and ‘prompt-to-video’ renderers will only increase the need for products and services that can easily create dynamic, engaging content to inform communities and attract users. I’m really excited about the work Jeremy and his team are doing and can’t wait for them to share.”
Aug X Labs conducts team crimes as a way to quickly test engineering, product, design, and marketing skills. The company’s first scrimmage resulted in Moviedle, which was a successful product and learning experience. Moviedle has served more than six million unique players and resulted in a partnership with content recommendation company AlsoTV. The company went on to create several additional daily online games under the umbrella of 12:01 Games.
The company’s most recent scrimmage resulted in PromptLocker. The site allows users to upload, save and build an AI art library. PromptLocker also includes a system to rank existing images and prompts from Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, Craiyon, and other AI-based generative art platforms and get feedback.
Aug X Labs’ initial investors and advisors are Yohei Nakajima (Untappd.VC), Noah Gale (Co-founder, Tribe AI), Marc Whitten (SVP & GM, Create @ Unity), Alanna Gregory (Crosscut VC), David Beck (Brightcove ), Ben Parr (Octane.AI), Rahim Fazal (CEO of SV Academy/x-Oracle), Jesse Redniss (Qonsent), Avner Ronen (Founder, Boxee), Kevin Conroy, Rob Hoffer, Ryan Bricklemyer, Deep Banerji, Scott Ryan and others.
The company’s product will be fully launched later this year as it enters a public beta.
Toeman is a serial entrepreneur, senior executive and inventor established in the video world for over two decades. His experience building transformational products includes the HP Digital Media Receiver (the first-ever streaming media device), the Slingbox, NextGuide (the first TV Guide app to include live + streaming together), the German Joyn streaming service, and multiple AI -first products at WarnerMedia.
Havird has 15 years of experience as a chief architect and chief engineer at companies such as RaceTrac, Turner Broadcasting and WarnerMedia. White is a seasoned product leader in the TV and media industry, with over 15 years of experience developing new businesses, launching products and building successful teams and unique cultures. The team consists of 10 people.
“If you think about how Canva has democratized image creation, we want to do the same for video,” Toeman said. “Granted, we don’t make Marvel movies, do we? But if I want to make a short explainer video, a tutorial or a demonstration, it should be within my reach. In this internet age, if I can write a prompt and have Stable Diffusion generate an image in 20 seconds, why can’t I make a whole video?”
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