Mumbai: GenAI startup NeuralGarage, has emerged as the first ever Indian startup to win the SXSW Pitch Competition at the globally renowned SXSW conference & festival. This annual event based in Austin (Texas) is one of the most definite and globally recognised events that celebrates the convergence of tech, film, music, education, and culture. From a global shortlist of thousands of startups, NeuralGarage won in the “Entertainment, Media, Sports & Content” category for their technology “VisualDub” which solves the problem of visual discord in dubbed content by syncing actors’ expressions & lip movements with the dubbed audio, to ensure an authentic and immersive viewing experience.
Running continuously for over 17 years, startups who have won this competition have raised over $23B in investments over the years. The jury comprised members from the venture capital, entertainment & content industry that makes the win even more significant since “VisualDub” is a tech solution built for the last mile of content localisation, a problem that the entertainment industry has been trying to solve for years.
An essential destination for creative professionals from the entertainment & content industry globally, the SXSW festival features film and television screenings, world-class exhibitions, & award ceremonies. Over the years it has become an immensely significant platform where the best of the entertainment & content industry gets showcased. This year some of the biggest names in Hollywood like Robert Downey Jr.,Matt Damon, Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, Nicole Kidman, Nicolas Cage, Blake Lively, Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Aaron Paul, Pedro Pascal, Kevin Bacon & many others came to showcase their latest work. The highlight of the event this year was a special fireside session by Michelle Obama and the screening of Michael Bay’s latest documentary “We are Storror”.
Speaking on the win, Mandar Natekar, NeuralGarage’s Co-Founder and CEO said, “The win is special because to win at SXSW means validation for our technology “VisualDub” that has been built for the global entertainment industry. To be able to pitch our tech on this influential platform in front of a global community of the brightest minds in the entertainment & content business was a thrilling experience and this is a stepping stone for us to bring this technology to the world shortly.”
Founded in 2021 by Mandar Natekar, Anjan Banerjee, Subhabrata Debnath & Subhashish Saha, NeuralGarage is building proprietary AI models specifically targeted to meet the exacting standards of the global entertainment industry and will change the way content is created, distributed and consumed across theatrical releases, streaming platforms and broadcast networks.