- Beyond Presence raised $3.1 million in a pre-seed round led by HV Capital, with participation from industry leaders such as Meta, DeepMind, and Zalando.
- The startup plans to launch its hyper-realistic avatar technology’s public beta by the end of the month.
Munich-based startup Beyond Presence has raised $3.1 million in a pre-seed funding round led by HV Capital, with participation from 10x Founders, Alba VC, and individuals from Meta, DeepMind, and Zalando. The company aims to create hyper-realistic avatars that closely resemble their human counterparts and function in real-time, conversational scenarios.
CEO and co-founder Awais Shafique stated,
“Part of the new capital will be used to continue developing the company’s foundational models, and some will fund the release of its public beta by the end of this month.”
The technology has already attracted a waitlist of over 300 companies, with applications expected in customer service, recruitment, sales, and e-learning—areas where companies can scale interactions without hiring more staff.
Shafique’s prior success with Presize, a computer vision startup acquired by Meta, has played a significant role in Beyond Presence’s traction.
"It’s lucrative enough that we don’t have to work,"
Shafique commented about the Presize exit. The other Presize founders remain at Meta, focusing on generative AI projects, but they are also investing in Beyond Presence.
Unlike other digital avatar companies, Beyond Presence’s technology allows avatars to be created using everyday devices like smartphone cameras. The platform integrates Eleven Labs for voice capabilities and OpenAI’s GPT for generative AI, providing flexibility for business clients to use their preferred models.
Although initially accepted into Y Combinator, Shafique and co-founder Felix Altenberger declined, choosing to retain control and focus on building their core technology.
Edited by Harshajit Sarmah
