AI video startup Higgsfield raises $80M at $1.3B valuation as demand for generative video surges

Higgsfield just vaulted into unicorn territory, and it did so at a moment when investors can’t pour money into AI video startups fast enough.

The San Francisco-based AI startup announced it has raised $80 million in a Series A extension, pushing its valuation past $1.3 billion, Higgsfield confirmed to Reuters. The round drew backing from Accel, GFT Ventures, and Menlo Ventures, signaling strong conviction in tools that sit on top of large AI models rather than trying to compete with them head-on.

From $0 to $200M ARR: Higgsfield becomes a unicorn in the AI video race

Higgsfield says it has reached a $200 million annualized revenue run rate, a projection indicating how quickly demand is building for AI-powered video creation. Instead of training its own foundation models, the startup plugs into third-party systems from players like OpenAI and Google, then layers its own technology on top. The strategy enables Higgsfield to move fast and focus on what customers care about most: producing videos that look consistent and on-brand.

“We minimize the production tax so that, eventually, better stories and better ideas win,” CEO Alex Mashrabov told Reuters in an interview.

The timing couldn’t be better. AI video generation has become one of the hottest areas in the tech sector. Well-funded labs are racing to build massive models, while startups like Runway and Synthesia chase filmmakers, advertisers, and large companies. The hype has even spilled into social platforms, with OpenAI’s Sora fueling fresh interest in AI-native content feeds.

Higgsfield has carved out its niche by developing post-training models and building what Mashrabov calls a “reasoning engine.” The system integrates multiple AI tools, helping ensure consistency in characters and branding across marketing videos. That kind of control has proven attractive to social media teams, who now make up about 85% of Higgsfield’s users.

The company’s rise has been swift. TechStartups covered Higgsfield in September 2025 after it closed a $50 million Series A round led by GFT Ventures, with participation from BroadLight Capital, NextEquity, and Menlo Ventures. At the time, the focus was on deepening its AI-native video platform’s presence in the creator economy.

Higgsfield was founded in 2023 by Mashrabov, formerly the head of generative AI at Snap. The pitch was simple: help creators and companies produce short-form videos in minutes instead of weeks. In March 2025, the startup rolled out a browser-based product that lets users run entire workflows within a single system, eliminating the need to stitch together multiple tools.

The growth caught investors off guard.

“They had scaled to around $10 million in ARR from zero in a matter of weeks, and we’d never seen anything like it,” said Jeff Herbst, managing partner at GFT Ventures and a board member at Higgsfield. He believes demand from social media marketers could eclipse Hollywood in size, a view that shaped his firm’s decision to double down.

With fresh capital in hand, Higgsfield plans to push into enterprise sales, expand internationally, and invest further in research and development. The company expects to grow its headcount from about 70 employees to roughly 300 by year’s end.

For Mashrabov, the goal stays the same: lower the cost of creativity and let ideas speak for themselves. If Higgsfield keeps its current pace, the AI video race may soon have a clear frontrunner.