Koyal

What do they actually do

Koyal is an AI video tool that turns a script or recorded voice into short, editable videos. Users upload or record audio, pick or generate characters (including verified avatars of real people), and the system maps the voice’s pacing and emotion to shots, performances, and edits. A simple web editor lets users tweak lighting, camera angles, and assets before exporting clips for social or broadcast Koyal site, YC company page.

The product is in public beta and offers a free 45‑second trial. Koyal emphasizes consent and safety for likeness use through its CHARCHA verification flow, and highlights working features like lip‑sync, multi‑character consistency, and multilingual pipelines. Early work includes pilots with major music labels and production houses, and usage for music videos, podcast clips, and launch promos CMU press release, YC company page.

Who are their target customer(s)

• Major music labels and production houses: Need many videos and promos quickly without coordinating full shoots, and must guarantee legal consent for artist likenesses across markets.
• Independent musicians and short‑form creators: Lack budget and time for crews but need consistent, polished visuals for frequent releases across social and streaming.
• Podcasters and audio creators: Have abundant audio content but limited capacity to turn episodes into engaging visual clips at scale.
• Marketing and product teams at startups/brands: Need fast launch videos, localized variants, and repeatable creatives with easy brand asset insertion—without booking production each time.
• Small production studios and ad agencies: Want a low‑cost way to previsualize and iterate on multi‑character scenes and storyboards before committing to a shoot; current tools can be inconsistent.

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Convert existing label and studio pilots (e.g., Universal Music, T‑Series) into paid contracts using short pilot‑to‑paid packages, dedicated onboarding, template deliverables, and clear CHARCHA consent/legal docs to ease procurement YC, CMU.
• First 50: Drive creator referrals by giving early musicians/creators free trials and credits, using the free 45‑second beta as the entry point, and publishing simple templates that help them ship and share clips quickly CMU, YC.
• First 100: Package repeatable workflows for podcasters, marketers, and small studios (preset shots, logo/asset templates, localization presets), run targeted outreach with podcast hosts and social agencies, and offer tiered self‑serve plans with light sales support Koyal site, YC.

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

Koyal targets the portion of video creation spend tied to short‑form promos and entertainment clips across digital advertising, the creator economy, and music label marketing. A conservative view of these production budgets suggests a sizable market.

Bottom-up calculation:

Approximate annual production spend: ~$38B from 20% of $191.3B global digital video ad spend Statista using a conservative 20% production share Scale Marketing; ~$28.6B from 20% of a $143B creator economy Market.us; and $8.1B from record‑label A&R and marketing investment IFPI. Total ≈ $75B per year.

Assumptions:

• Use a 20% production share of ad and creator revenues; real ratios vary by campaign and region.
• Minimize double counting between marketers, labels, and creators when converting to production spend.
• Exclude feature film/TV budgets where the current product is unlikely to compete near term.

Who are some of their notable competitors

• Runway: Generative video creation and editing widely used by creators and brands; strong text‑to‑video and post‑production tools.
• Pika: AI video generation for short clips from text or images; popular for creator‑led social content.
• Luma AI (Dream Machine): High‑quality text‑to‑video model focused on cinematic shots; relevant to story visualization and rapid ideation.
• Synthesia: Enterprise‑focused AI avatar video for training and marketing; strong in templated, scalable video workflows.
• HeyGen: AI avatar and lip‑sync video tool used for marketing, tutorials, and localization at scale.