Wisecut raises funding from Tim Draper to expand its AI-driven video editing platform

Wisecut, an AI-powered automatic video editing platform, has announced the successful completion of an investment round from esteemed Silicon Valley investor Tim Draper, who made an impromptu pledge of $1 million to the company.

Founders Ivo and Vicente Machado met with Tim Draper during breakfast and convinced him to pledge his support. Draper signed the investment commitment on a napkin, sealing the deal.

With this latest funding, Wisecut plans to expand its platform by implementing generative AI to “summarize” audiovisual content autonomously. The company said it will incorporate OpenAI’s GPT-4 technology to create thematic snippets from lengthy videos.

“We’re integrating generative AI on our platform so that Wisecut can analyze a one-hour video clip and condense it to just 1 minute of the most insightful content,” Ivo Machado, CEO and cofounder of Wisecut said in an interview with VentureBeat. “Upon receiving an initial prompt from the user, it will automatically segment the content into specialized short clips and offer suggestions for titles, descriptions and more.”

Supporting R&D, expanding market reach

Wisecut announced that the gen AI upgrade will be made available soon. Machado stated that the newly secured $1 million funding will be allocated towards expanding the team, advancing research and development efforts, launching additional features and expanding its market reach.

The company aims to streamline video editing through gen AI for businesses using video for marketing purposes. It also intends to assist educational institutions transitioning to online classes and video content creators in producing more engaging and concise video content.

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“It is a game-changer for video streamers!”, Tim Draper, investor and founder of Draper Associates, said in a written statement. “Wisecut’s AI-powered video editing can save you hours, producing a final version even better than if you did it yourself. I believe the platform has immense potential to revolutionize the media toolbox for businesses and individuals alike.”

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Leveraging generative AI to streamline video editing

Wisecut said the upcoming platform upgrade will leverage gen AI algorithms to gain context from the source video, transcribe audio content and perform semantic analysis to better understand the intended meaning.

The company is also working on an emotion-recognition technology to decode the speaker’s emotions through facial expressions and body language. By correlating these insights, Wisecut aims to identify impactful segments using AI models GPT-4 and a fine-tuned Whisper, streamlining the video editing process.

Additionally, Wisecut’s proprietary AI model actively tracks speakers in the video, makes editing decisions and optimizes visual composition to provide a polished viewer experience. The company also revealed that the platform will now generate optimized titles and descriptions for YouTube and social media, leveraging semantic analysis and emotional understanding.

“Wisecut stands out from its competitors due to its intuitive and AI-driven auto cut feature, deciding where to cut [and] what to remove while keeping the cuts clean and smooth,” Machado told VentureBeat. “We found that our features such as smart background music with audio ducking and the automated punch-in camera effect, coupled with the platform’s user-friendly AI interface, have resonated well with content creators while saving them editing hassle.”

Improving algorithms, recruiting AI talent

Machado stated that a portion of the funding will go towards improving the underlying AI algorithms and machine learning (ML) models that empower Wisecut’s video editing capabilities. The company plans to recruit experienced AI researchers and data scientists to refine existing models, enhance accuracy and introduce new gen AI features.

He added that the latest funding will also support company initiatives and partnerships to create awareness about the platform’s capabilities and attract new users.

Wisecut asserts that it currently has 350,000 registered users and experiences a monthly influx of over 50,000 new users, with a staggering 500% growth recorded in January 2023.

Originally appeared on: TheSpuzz