Captions, an AI-powered video creation startup, announced a $60 million Series C funding round led by Index Ventures, bringing its total capital raised to $100 million. According to Bloomberg, the investment has catapulted the company’s valuation to $500 million.

Founded in 2021 by Gaurav Misra and Dwight Churchill, Captions leverages artificial intelligence to simplify video creation and editing. The platform, which has amassed over 10 million global users, facilitates the production of approximately 3.5 million videos monthly.

Returning investors Kleiner Perkins, Andreessen Horowitz, and Sequoia Capital participated in the latest funding round. New investors included Adobe Ventures, HubSpot Ventures, and actor Jared Leto.

Captions’ technology allows users to generate videos featuring AI avatars speaking from typed text or AI-generated scripts. The platform also offers language translation capabilities, enabling users to convert their videos into multiple languages while preserving their original voice.

To achieve these functionalities, Captions combines proprietary AI models with third-party technologies, including large language models from OpenAI and Anthropic for text generation and voice-cloning software from Eleven Labs Inc.

CEO Gaurav Misra highlights the platform’s diverse applications, which include real estate professionals, salespeople, and educators. “It’s very wide-ranging in terms of the use case—it’s wherever video is relevant, especially short-form video,” Misra told Bloomberg.

Addressing concerns about potential misuse, Misra noted that the company implemented design choices and limitations in its software. For instance, the app refuses to generate videos containing disinformation about specific topics, such as vaccines.

According to the announcement, the new funding will be allocated to research and development and computing power to enhance Captions’ AI models. Misra emphasized the accelerated pace of AI development, telling Bloomberg that “what we thought would take ten years takes one year now.”

As Captions expands its team from 15 to 60 employees in New York City, the company aims to make professional-quality video production accessible to a broader audience.