Kaltura, a Nasdaq-listed company, is acquiring Israeli startup eSelf.ai, which develops advanced AI technology for interactive digital avatars. The deal is valued at up to $27 million.
The acquisition brings together Kaltura’s powerful video platform with eSelf.ai’s realistic and conversational avatars. These avatars can hold real-time conversations, show facial expressions, and understand context while interacting with users.
After integration, Kaltura plans to use this technology to create “immersive virtual agents” that can listen, speak, and understand what’s happening on a user’s screen — adding interactive AI-driven personalities to workplaces and learning platforms.
As part of the deal, Kaltura will pay $7.5 million in cash when the acquisition closes. It will also pay another $12.5 million over the next three years if eSelf.ai meets certain performance goals.
In addition, Kaltura will issue 4.69 million of its own shares to eSelf.ai, which will vest over three years and represent about 3% of Kaltura’s shares before the deal. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, pending regulatory approval.
eSelf.ai, founded in 2023, has a team of over 15 experts specializing in AI fields such as computer vision, natural language processing, and speech technology.
The company was started by Dr. Alan Bekker and Eylon Shoshan. They earlier created Voca.ai, a company that made voice-based AI assistants. Snap bought Voca.ai, and later, Bekker worked at Snap leading projects on conversational AI.
“eSelf.ai enables immersive, real-time conversations with agentic avatars that are highly engaging, hyper-personalized, and impactful,” said Bekker. “Joining Kaltura will take our conversational avatars to production at a global scale, embedding them directly into events, learning, TV, and customer experience workflows.”
CEO Ron Yekutiel described the deal as a milestone in Kaltura’s evolution from video management to AI-powered interaction. “This acquisition will expand our content creation tools to include AI-based avatar content and accelerate our expansion into immersive, real-time virtual agents for customer and employee experiences,” he said.
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