Two former Microsoft employees, Priyaa Kalyanaraman and Purvanshi Mehta, have co-founded Lica, a startup designed to revolutionize the creation of tutorial and product videos from screenshots and screen recordings. Frustrated by the time-consuming and costly nature of traditional video production, the duo launched the company in 2023 to simplify and enhance video storytelling.
The Journey to Lica
Kalyanaraman, a former product manager at Microsoft, Snap, and Waymo, and Mehta, who worked as a data scientist and project manager at Microsoft, combined their expertise to build Lica. Their shared vision was sparked by Kalyanaraman’s hackathon project on AI-powered design agents and Mehta’s independent work on content personalization.
The idea took off after a mutual friend introduced them, leading to their collaboration on a video storytelling tool they found lacking in effectiveness and user-friendliness.
Lica Secures $4 Million in Seed Funding
Lica recently raised $4 million in a seed round led by Accel, with participation from South Park Commons, Village Global, and notable angel investors like Replit CEO Amjad Masad, former a16z General Partner Balaji Srinivasan, and Replit President Michele Catasta.
Aditya Agarwal of South Park Commons highlighted the gap Lica fills by making video production more accessible and cost-effective compared to traditional methods reliant on external agencies.
How Lica Works
Lica simplifies video creation with its AI tool, which processes screen recordings and screenshots to generate polished videos. Key features include:
- Automated additions like transitions, background music, and effects.
- A user-friendly editing tool to manually add elements like text for narration.
- AI-guided prompts for specific video styles, such as “Gen Z tutorial.”
- Post-production adjustments, including voiceover tone, captions, language, style, and music.
The tool is powered by AI models that handle layout generation and orchestrate video elements, using a blend of open-source and proprietary technologies.
Subscription Plans
Lica offers a free tier allowing users to create up to 10 videos (three minutes each) with three downloads per month. A paid plan at $49/month provides unlimited 10-minute videos, branded templates, and 10 downloads.
Future Plans
The startup currently focuses on product and tutorial videos but plans to expand its AI assistant’s capabilities to support marketing, social media, presentations, and investor pitch videos.
Market Potential and Differentiation
While Lica faces indirect competition from tools like Loom and AI startups like D-ID and Synthesia, its combination of intuitive design and advanced AI capabilities sets it apart. Accel’s Sameer Gandhi praised Lica’s approach, noting:
“Lica differentiates itself by combining advanced AI capabilities with intuitive design in a single platform, allowing users to maintain creative control while benefiting from AI-assisted capabilities.”
With a strong team and innovative product approach, Lica is poised to address a growing market need for efficient, high-quality video production.
