metro india news  I hyderabad

TakeTwo, an AI-native film studio focused on advanced visual storytelling, has secured funding at a Rs 100 crore valuation in a pre-seed round. The investment saw participation from US-based Afore Capital and Canada’s Inovia VC. Founded by Rudresh Upadhyaya and Raghav Katta, the startup positions itself as a full-stack AI film studio rather than a conventional SaaS platform.

The founders, who recently emerged from Y Combinator’s AI Startup School, aim to bridge the gap between cutting-edge artificial intelligence and professional cinema. TakeTwo helps filmmakers execute VFX-heavy sequences, stylised shots and immersive environments at significantly lower costs and faster timelines than traditional methods, without disrupting existing post-production workflows.

India’s media and entertainment sector, valued at $30 billion in 2024, is expected to grow rapidly, alongside the global AI video market, which is projected to expand sharply over the next decade. TakeTwo plans to capitalise on this growth by treating AI as core filmmaking infrastructure rather than an experimental add-on.

The studio is already working with several Indian directors to integrate AI-driven visuals into mainstream films. It follows both B2B and B2C models, catering to large production houses as well as independent creators. While currently leveraging external AI APIs, TakeTwo plans to develop custom AI agents trained on India’s vast film production data.

The newly raised capital will be used to strengthen technical infrastructure and expand the team, with the long-term goal of becoming a standard platform for AI-assisted cinema.