AI company Phyron secures 10 MEUR investment for hypergrowth
Phyron, an AI-driven automated video production company, has secured a 10 MEUR investment to fuel several years of hypergrowth. The funding round was led by Austrian Round2 Capital Partners, with participation from British businessman Peter Vardy and existing investors Dahlgren Capital and Confidus Venture Capital.
Founded in 2019 by Johan Sundstrand, Mattias Kellquist, Jens-Peter Sjöberg, Patrick Kämpe, and Per Laredius, Phyron has developed an AI platform that creates unlimited product videos for cars, used for marketing on marketplaces and social media. The company currently serves over 3,000 car dealers and manufacturers across approximately 25 countries.
"You could say that we took two good bites in 2019. That AI automation would be the next big innovation and that video would be the main means of communication in the long term, and we got it right on both," says Johan Sundstrand, CEO of Phyron.
Phyron has experienced significant growth, with sales increasing from just under SEK 4 million in 2020 to around SEK 40 million in 2023. The company's annual recurring revenue (ARR) is currently growing at approximately 70 percent.
"Of course it feels great. We are growing so well right now that the combination of loans and equity is an incredibly good mix for us," Sundstrand explains. "We chose to start collaborating with Round2 already last year, then through 'revenue-based financing'. When we decided to do a round and started meeting potential investors, they grabbed us and said 'let's do this together', and it turned out to be a very good solution."
Currently, the UK is Phyron's biggest market, accounting for about half of the company's revenue.
"Now we choose to accelerate," says Sundstrand. "There are quite a few AI companies like us that actually have a working business model today with strong growth and that actually make money. We are certainly not cash flow positive yet, but we are not so far away from becoming so if we wanted to."
Dahlgren Capital and Confidus Venture Capital, as leading investors in AI in the Nordic region, express pride in their involvement with Phyron. They emphasize their commitment to investing in nonlinear business models that prioritize high profitability, generating positive cash flow while ensuring rapid growth.
This investment marks a significant milestone for Phyron as it continues to revolutionize the automated video production industry in the automotive segment.