Kaltura Inc. (Nasdaq: KLTR), the AI Video Experience Cloud, announced Tuesday it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire eSelf.ai, a multimodal artificial intelligence lab developing real-time conversational avatar technology. The deal, signed Nov. 5, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.
eSelf.ai creates photorealistic, conversational avatars that support more than 30 languages and can be easily created, deployed, and managed using a proprietary studio. Its technology combines expressive AI-driven avatars, low-latency speech recognition and generation, screen understanding, dynamic media sharing, and enterprise-grade automation frameworks.
Founded in 2023, eSelf.ai was named one of Fast Company’s “Next Big Things in Tech” in 2025. The company has more than 15 AI experts specializing in computer vision, natural language processing, and speech technology. It is led by co-founders Dr. Alan Bekker and Eylon Shoshan. Bekker, a machine learning Ph.D. with expertise in speech and vision, previously co-founded Voca.ai, which was acquired by Snap. He later led Snap’s conversational AI initiatives.
Kaltura plans to integrate eSelf.ai’s technology across its AI Video Experience Cloud, enhancing products with avatars that can hear, speak, and visually analyze user screens in real time. The avatars will augment existing Kaltura Genies — branded agents for education, work, customer experience, and television — with capabilities for real-time interaction.
The company said these immersive agents will be embeddable, interactive, and self-service, driving its product-led growth strategy. The technology will also serve as the foundation for a new video-on-demand content creation tool that allows users to insert speaking avatars into any video, whether photorealistic or animated.
The acquisition is expected to enhance Kaltura’s value proposition for premium clients, attract new enterprise customers, and expand self-service offerings for small and midsize businesses and departments within larger organizations.
Kaltura detailed use cases for the new capabilities, including:
Customer Experiences
- Marketing: Personalized avatar-driven experiences embedded in websites.
- Sales: Digital sales assistants for lead qualification and training.
- Support & Training: Avatars that provide screen-aware troubleshooting and dynamic product tutorials.
Employee Experiences
- Recruiting: Virtual interviewers for first-round candidate screening.
- Onboarding & Training: Customized learning and compliance programs.
- Internal Support: Personalized help desk and HR information delivery.
Industry Applications
- Education: Teaching assistants that tailor content to student needs.
- Media & Telecom: Virtual hosts and curators for live and on-demand content.
- Retail: Digital sales reps for product guidance and checkout support.
- Finance: Avatars offering account insights and investment options.
- Healthcare: Assistants for patient care and treatment guidance.
- Professional Services: Support agents capable of screen sharing and task execution.
“This acquisition will expand our content creation tools to include AI-based avatars, and most importantly accelerate our ability to power immersive, real-time, virtual agents across customer and employee experiences,” said Kaltura Co-founder, Chairman, President and CEO Ron Yekutiel. “With deep integration, a strong enterprise customer base, and scalable infrastructure, Kaltura is uniquely positioned for this next phase of evolution.”
Dr. Bekker added, “Joining Kaltura will take our agentic avatars global, embed them across use cases from learning to entertainment to customer support, and allow customers to easily access them through our self-serve studio.”
Transaction terms
The deal includes an upfront cash payment of $7.5 million. An additional $12.5 million in cash will be paid over three years, contingent on performance milestones. Kaltura will also issue 4,690,025 shares of common stock, vesting over three years, subject to retention clauses for eSelf.ai founders and key employees. That equity represents approximately 3% of Kaltura’s outstanding shares prior to the acquisition. If all milestones and conditions are met, the deal is valued at approximately $27 million.