Surreal
诗云科技
Surreal is the company behind HeyGen, an AI video-generation startup that became a standout in the Chinese companies-going-global wave. Founded before the GPT era, it raised seed funding from Sequoia China Seed, ZhenFund, and IDG Capital in 2021 , with ZhenFund leading the angel round and re-upping at the Pre-A stage . The company pivoted into AI video generation and saw its ARR climb from $1 million to over $35 million within roughly a year, reportedly hitting around $5 million in ARR by mid-2024 . Its breakthrough moment came in late 2023 when a Taylor Swift-speaking-Mandarin clip went viral . By mid-2024 it had closed a $60 million Series A at a valuation nearing $500 million . Yongteng Wen, an early investor, is cited as having backed HeyGen when it was among the AI startups he found with ARR later exceeding $100 million .
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Coverage
The first VC founded in 2026
Define the next decade at maximum speed.
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Where does the money come from?
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