{"text":[[{"start":10.224,"text":"Higgsfield, an AI video generation platform, has raised $400mn at a $5.4bn valuation from investors including DST Global, Goldman Sachs, Liberty Global and Intel, as the two-year-old start-up expands its push into corporate subscriptions."}],[{"start":26.889,"text":"The fundraising comes eight months after the company, founded by former Snap executive Alex Mashrabov, raised $80mn at a $1.3bn valuation amid growing adoption of its technology by businesses."}],[{"start":40.515,"text":"The AI platform, which launched in 2025, reached $700mn in annualised revenue in August, up from $20mn about a year earlier. Higgsfield has attracted more than 30mn users across 238 countries and territories, with the US its largest market."}],[{"start":58.095,"text":"“The new funding will help us accelerate our move upmarket. Today, most of our revenue comes from businesses, which is a significant change from January, when business customers accounted for less than 25 per cent of revenue,” Mashrabov told the FT."}],[{"start":72.81,"text":"Higgsfield sits at the intersection of social media marketing, entertainment and the creator economy, where a new generation of creators is using AI to produce more polished visual content. More recently, it has shifted its focus towards corporate marketing clients."}],[{"start":86.24,"text":"“At Snapchat, the face filters I built were primarily used by teenagers for entertainment. At Higgsfield, we are transforming how larger businesses run marketing campaigns,” Mashrabov said."}],[{"start":97.28,"text":"Goldman Sachs has estimated that the global creator economy, encompassing about 50mn people, could grow from $250bn in 2023 to $480bn by 2027, fuelled by influencer marketing and short-form video advertising. Global spending on digital advertising is forecast to reach $1.1tn by 2030, growing at an annual rate of 8.6 per cent, according to The Business Research Company."}],[{"start":124.876,"text":"Since May, Mashrabov said, brands including Dollar Shave Club had begun building AI-driven marketing systems that used Higgsfield to create multiple videos each day, rather than a single campaign asset."}],[{"start":137.22,"text":"“Dollar Shave Club’s CMO has spoken about using Higgsfield and there are hundreds of similar nationwide direct-to-consumer brands using AI not just to make one video but multiple videos a day,” said Mashrabov."}],[{"start":149.12,"text":"He said social media teams were using AI to keep pace with the rapid turnover of online content while reducing their dependence on expensive creative agencies. The technology could both lower marketing costs and help brands sell more products by producing fresh videos at scale, he added."}],[{"start":165.36,"text":"The round will allow Higgsfield to continue investing in enterprise products, security and computing power."}],[{"start":171.992,"text":"“Compute is scarce and the funding will enable us to make substantial compute reservations so that we can offer a best-in-class service,” said Mashrabov."}],[{"start":180.88,"text":"Higgsfield has also supported AI-generated films, a use of the technology which has unsettled some in Hollywood over its potential effect on creative jobs. The company is increasingly targeting corporate customers using its tools to produce marketing content."}],[{"start":196.39,"text":"The other investors include Tribe Capital, Smash Capital, Fifth Wall, Valor Capital, Liberty Global Tech Ventures, Mirae Asset Capital and NTT DOCOMO Ventures. Goldman is making the investment through its Equity Growth fund."}],[{"start":217.68,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1786949859_7926.mp3"}