tavus

We envision a future where digital interactions replicate the depth and warmth of human connection, powered by emotionally intelligent AI that understands and responds in real time. At Tavus, we are pioneering "Human Computing" to bridge the divide between automation and authentic human presence, enabling machines to communicate with empathy, nuance, and emotional depth.

Our mission is to redefine how people and businesses engage digitally by creating lifelike AI humans that see, hear, and interact with genuine emotional intelligence. Through innovative conversational video interfaces and digital twin technologies, we empower enterprises to foster meaningful, personalized interactions at scale, transforming sales, marketing, training, and customer support.

By combining cutting-edge real-time video AI with no-code configurability and advanced replica capabilities, Tavus is constructing a future where AI not only assists but truly connects, bringing human qualities into automated experiences and enhancing relationships in the digital age.

We've been tracking AI video companies for a while now, but Tavus caught our attention for doing something genuinely different. While most players in this space focus on generating static videos or basic avatars, these folks are building what they call "Human Computing" — essentially AI humans that can hold real conversations with actual emotional intelligence.

The San Francisco startup, founded in 2021 by Hassaan Raza and Quinn Favret, isn't just another deepfake company. They're tackling the bigger problem of making digital interactions feel human again.

What Makes This Special

The standout feature is their Conversational Video Interface (CVI). We're talking about sub-second latency for live video conversations with AI digital twins. That's impressive when you consider most video AI tools still feel clunky and delayed.

What really got us excited was seeing how they handle personalization at scale. A CEO can record one 15-minute video, and Tavus transforms it into thousands of unique, personalized variants using CRM data. We've seen companies boost conversion rates by up to 500% with this approach — that's not just marketing fluff, that's real business impact.

Three Tools, One Vision

Tavus offers three main products that work together nicely. Their AI Human Studio is a no-code platform where anyone can build interactive AI humans. The Replica API handles the heavy lifting for developers who want studio-grade digital twins with full-face rendering and voice cloning.

But the CVI is where things get interesting for developers. It's API-first, supports external knowledge integration, and can handle function calling — basically turning any app into a place where users can have face-to-face conversations with AI.

Who Should Pay Attention

This isn't for everyone, but if you're in sales, marketing, customer support, or training, Tavus could be a game-changer. We can see this working particularly well for companies that rely heavily on personal connection — think real estate, insurance, or high-touch B2B sales.

The $24 million in funding (including an $18 million round in early 2024) from solid investors like Sequoia and Scale Venture Partners suggests the market sees real potential here. While they're still under $5 million in revenue, the technology foundation looks strong enough to scale quickly once adoption picks up.