Kaltura, the New York–headquartered enterprise video platform, is acquiring Israeli startup eSelf.ai for $27 million. Founded in 2023 by CEO Alan Bekker and CTO Eylon Shoshan, eSelf.ai develops multilingual, avatar-based conversational agents capable of real-time interaction.
Its platform supports more than 30 languages and includes a studio for creating, customizing, and deploying photorealistic digital avatars. The acquisition brings eSelf’s team of around 15 AI experts into Kaltura, integrating their expertise in speech-to-video generation, low-latency speech recognition, and screen understanding into the company’s video offerings.
Kaltura serves over 800 enterprise customers, including Amazon, Oracle, Salesforce, SAP, Adobe, and IBM. The deal allows Kaltura to expand its platform beyond video streaming and personalized content into AI-driven interactive experiences for training, customer support, and marketing.
CEO Ron Yekutiel said, “We started with video, then moved to personalized video, and now, with eSelf’s technology, we’re adding human-like capabilities faces, eyes, mouths, ears, to make our AI agents conversational and expressive.”
eSelf.ai Technology and Expertise
eSelf.ai specializes in AI-generated digital humans that can understand speech, see content on user screens, and respond in real time. The company’s platform combines natural language processing with computer vision, enabling avatars to interact synchronously rather than just lip-syncing pre-recorded responses. Bekker previously sold his first startup, Voca, to Snap in 2020, and his experience in conversational AI underpins eSelf’s approach.
The startup’s technology supports over 30 languages and features a user-friendly studio that allows enterprises to create fully customized avatars. This capability fits with Kaltura’s enterprise focus, providing tools for companies to engage employees, customers, and students through interactive video agents that are adaptable to multiple languages and contexts.
Integration into Kaltura’s Enterprise Platform
Kaltura plans to incorporate eSelf.ai’s conversational avatars across its video solutions. The integration will enable agents that can listen, speak, and interpret user screens in real time. eSelf’s 15 AI specialists, including its co-founders, will join Kaltura to oversee the technical integration and ensure continuity in development.
Kaltura’s existing platform includes a corporate video portal, tools for webinars and virtual events, learning management system integrations, virtual classrooms, and end-to-end TV streaming solutions. By embedding eSelf’s avatars, Kaltura can expand the functionality of its video tools from content delivery to interactive engagement, enabling use cases in customer support, sales, marketing, and training.
Strategic Implications for Kaltura
The acquisition is Kaltura’s fourth, following Tvinci in 2014, Rapt Media in 2018, and Newrow in 2020. The company, public since 2021, reports around $180 million in revenue and maintains profitability on an adjusted EBITDA and cash flow basis. Adding eSelf.ai strengthens Kaltura’s AI capabilities and extends its enterprise offerings into interactive and conversational video experiences.
Integration of eSelf.ai’s avatars will be gradual, with the co-founders leading the effort to merge the technology into Kaltura’s platform. The acquisition consolidates Kaltura’s position as a provider of enterprise video tools enhanced with AI-driven interaction, combining content delivery with human-like conversational features for a range of industries, from technology and finance to healthcare and education.
