A conversational agent for full video production

Made by Tech in Asia with the help of Gemini

This article is a part of Startup Spotlight, a series that features young, up-and-coming startups.

AI researchers Yanfei Dong and Yang Zhang tried producing an AI-generated short drama series. They discovered managing the actual production workflow was harder than generating video clips. After successfully selling their finished series to TikTok, they launched Pixo.

😟 Problem

Experienced US creators typically need 1.5 weeks to manually stitch together a one-minute AI video. Current AI video models only generate short, isolated clips lasting 15 to 30 seconds.

Making a coherent video requires managing scripts, storyboards, character consistency, and audio layers. This high barrier restricts non-video natives like novelists and teachers from telling visual stories.

💡 Solution

Pixo provides a conversational AI assistant for long-form video production. After users describe an idea or upload a script using natural language, the platform then:

• Converts the input into scenes and storyboards.
• Generates video clips, voiceovers, music, and subtitles.
• Remembers project context to maintain character consistency.

Image credit: Pixo

📊 Market size

The global AI video market is already a multi-billion-dollar market. The startup estimates it has a near-term revenue potential of US$5 million by securing up to 7,000 paying creators.

Reaching 100,000 active paying users could represent an annual recurring revenue opportunity of up to US$100 million.

🤝 Team

• Yanfei Dong. Co-founder and CEO. Previously worked on AI/machine learning at Google, PayPal, and Alibaba, with over 900 academic citations.
• Yang Zhang. Co-founder and CTO. Holds a PhD from the National University of Singapore focusing on generative AI models.
• Yik Jiun Lee. Founding engineering lead. Former CTO of Switcheo with experience scaling high-throughput cryptocurrency exchange systems.

🚀 Traction

• Reached US$240,000 in annualized revenue within three months of its public launch.
• Accumulated over 400 paying customers and 30,000 sign-ups.
• Improved monthly user churn from 56% in April to 34% in May.
• Sees roughly 60% to 70% of creators using mobile devices for production.

🏆 Competition

Pixo competes against major AI video generation platforms like Runway and Higgsfield. These incumbent tools optimize for rendering short clips, visual effects, and marketing assets.

💰 Financials

🚩 Risks