Mirage raises $75M to continue building models for its AI video editing app Captions

Mirage, the innovative developer behind the video editing application Captions, has successfully secured $75 million in growth funding from General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund (CVF). This substantial investment comes on the heels of significant transformations within the company, which has recently rebranded from Captions to Mirage. This shift is intended to establish the company as a prominent AI lab focused on developing advanced models while also servicing sectors such as advertising and marketing. In its pursuit of innovation, Mirage has trained a specialized model designed to enhance pacing, framing, and attention dynamics in short videos. In January 2025, the company transitioned to a freemium model, strategically positioning itself to compete more effectively with rivals like ByteDance’s CapCut and Meta’s Edits, which debuted later in that year. The startup has also expanded its offerings to include a comprehensive video creation suite, allowing businesses to efficiently produce and distribute videos at scale. Gaurav Misra, co-founder and CEO of Mirage, expressed the company's ambition to develop additional models, although he refrained from detailing their specific functionalities. He did mention that future models would focus on 'assembly intelligence,' which involves compiling videos using various sources and components. Misra highlighted the significance of a new audio model, designed to maintain the authenticity of user accents in generated videos. He shared a personal anecdote about his father, who faced challenges using the app due to accent discrepancies, stating, 'Accents are just very important.' According to analytics from AppFigures, the Captions app has seen over 3.2 million downloads in the past year, generating an impressive $28.4 million in in-app revenue. The platform has been utilized to create over 200 million videos, boasting an international user base where only 25% of revenue is sourced from the U.S. Currently, Mirage’s marketing suite is accessible online, while Captions primarily provides a mobile-centric editing experience. The company aims to integrate these platforms to better serve small businesses interested in marketing video creation. Pranav Singhvi, managing director of General Catalyst’s CVF fund, noted that Mirage has a solid product-market fit. He remarked, 'Mirage’s business equation is extremely figured out. They know exactly how to spend that dollar and generate a very attractive ROI.' Singhvi also acknowledged the vast potential of the market, suggesting that Mirage is well-positioned to navigate both the creator and enterprise sectors. As competition in AI video generation grows, with numerous companies like Canva and D-ID releasing new tools and features, Singhvi maintains confidence in Mirage’s unique positioning and strong unit economics. He stated, 'Regardless of what the other tools are out there, Mirage is clearly ahead of the pack from a unit economics standpoint.' With the new funding, Mirage is set to drive growth and expand into rapidly developing markets across Asia.