What happened
Brahma AI, an enterprise platform backed by Prime Focus, raised $150 million in a funding round led by Multiples Alternate Asset Management. The transaction values the company at $2 billion on a post-money basis. Prime Focus will retain approximately 66% economic ownership but its voting rights will drop to 24.99%, meaning it will no longer consolidate Brahma AI as a subsidiary.
Brahma AI, an enterprise platform backed by Prime Focus, has raised $150 million in a funding round led by Multiples Alternate Asset Management. According to Business Today, the round values the company at $2 billion on a post-money basis. The equity round saw Multiples commit $100 million through preferred shares, with Brahma AI reporting an additional $100 million of investor interest that could lead to an upsized round, as detailed in Prime Focus's stock exchange filing on September 23.
Post-transaction, Prime Focus will retain approximately 66% economic ownership in Brahma AI through its UK-based visual effects subsidiary DNEG. However, its voting rights will drop to 24.99%, which means Prime Focus will no longer consolidate Brahma AI as a subsidiary. This structural change effectively separates the high-growth AI platform's funding from Prime Focus's established visual effects and animation business.
Prabhu Narasimhan, Founder and CEO of Brahma AI, stated that the fresh capital will primarily be deployed for research and development, with a focus on building interactive digital humans and expanding the company's AI capabilities. The company also plans to use the funds to scale its go-to-market operations, particularly in the US, and accelerate product development to meet rising enterprise demand for secure, branded AI-generated content.
Source details: businesstoday.in ↗
Why it matters
This funding round signals significant investor confidence in enterprise-focused solutions for audiovisual content. By securing substantial capital, Brahma AI can accelerate the development of interactive digital humans and multilingual localization tools, addressing a growing demand for secure, branded AI-generated media across industries like entertainment, sports, and healthcare. The separation from Prime Focus's core VFX business allows for independent growth and potential future listing.
Brahma AI operates as an AI-native operating system for enterprise audiovisual content, combining Hollywood-grade content technology with . Its platform integrates products such as ATMAN, a photoreal digital human engine, and VAANI, a multilingual voice and lip-sync localization tool. These tools serve global anchor customers including Warner Bros., the NBA, and Mayo Clinic across media, sports, healthcare, and advertising verticals.
The funding is significant because it supports the scaling of AI-powered localization and content creation, which are becoming critical for global media distribution. For example, Brahma AI is being used for the film 'Ramayana' to provide high-end localization in dozens of languages, using VAANI to re-animate actors' mouth movements to match translated dialogue while preserving original performance. This capability addresses the practical need for seamless, movie-quality sync in global releases.
The separation from Prime Focus allows Brahma AI to pursue independent growth and potential future listing or further fundraising, while Prime Focus retains a majority economic stake. This move reflects a broader trend in the industry where specialized AI units are spun off or funded separately to attract targeted investment and accelerate innovation in specific domains like enterprise .
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What to watch next
Investors should monitor Brahma AI's deployment of funds into R&D for digital humans and its expansion in the US market. Additionally, the impact of the reduced voting rights on Prime Focus's strategic control and the company's ability to meet enterprise demand for AI-localized content are key factors to observe.
The deployment of the $150 million into R&D for interactive digital humans and the expansion of AI capabilities will be a key indicator of the company's progress. Investors should look for announcements regarding new product features or partnerships that leverage these technologies.
Brahma AI's go-to-market expansion in the US is another critical area to watch. The company aims to meet rising enterprise demand for secure, branded AI-generated content, and its success in this market will determine its ability to scale and achieve its valuation.
The impact of the reduced voting rights on Prime Focus's strategic control over Brahma AI should be monitored. While Prime Focus retains a majority economic stake, the drop in voting rights to 24.99% may influence decision-making and future strategic directions for the AI platform.