AI start-up HeyGen raises US$60 million after pivoting away from mainland China investors

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) start-up HeyGen has raised US$60 million in its series A funding round, months after dissolving its mainland Chinese operation amid heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Founded in Shenzhen in 2020 and previously known as Surreal, HeyGen’s latest funding exercise valued the company at US$500 million, according to a Bloomberg report. The firm – renamed Movio after relocating to Los Angeles, California, in 2022 – rebranded itself as HeyGen in April last year.

HeyGen’s latest funding round was completed on June 20 and led by San Francisco-based venture capital firm Benchmark. New and returning investors included Thrive Capital, BOND, Conviction, Dylan Field, Elad Gil, Aviv Nevo, Neil Mehta and SV Angel, according to a statement from HeyGen.

Following the company’s relocation to Los Angeles, HeyGen had asked its Chinese investors – including IDG Capital, Baidu Ventures, HongShan and ZhenFund – to sell shares to their US counterparts to cut its links to the mainland, following scrutiny by American lawmakers for its early connection to China.