Ready Player Me Nets $56M from a16z

3x User Base in 9 Months

Synthetic media was already tackling big markets in movies, media, marketing, and customer support. The rapid adoption in gaming and metaverse is only accelerating growth.

Ready Player Me is a perfect example. The company announced its use in more than 1,000 apps when it closed a $13 million funding round in December 2021. They said the new figure is 3,000 just nine months later.

The solution enables anyone to easily create 3D avatars that they can use across these apps so they can present a common persona. Just upload a personal photo or create one on-the-fly. Add accessories from a list of 300. In the future, you will be able to add your NFT accessories and have them travel with your avatar to over 3,250 apps and games.

Personal Avatars vs Digital Twins

Of course, these are personal avatars. You are the operator. This contrasts with the other high-profile synthetic media category of digital twins. A digital twin may personify you, but it is not you at the helm. These are backed either by scripted videos (e.g. Hour One, DeepBrain AI) or are autonomous with interactive abilities (e.g. Soul Machines).

We are going to see more and more of both of these solutions.

While the personal avatar gives you that consistent persona across digital worlds and platforms, the digital twin offers you scalability. It’s a lower resolution version of you that can be present in these digital spaces when you are not. That provides an opportunity for scalable engagement and also the ability to capture data that would otherwise be missed altogether.