Panjaya.ai raises $9.5M for BodyTalk to perfect multilingual AI translation

Israeli startup Panjaya.ai has launched BodyTalk, an AI-driven translation platform that synchronizes lip movements and body gestures to deliver accurate and natural translations in any language. Panjaya has secured $9.5 million in funding to date from Viola Ventures, R-Squared Ventures and GroundUp Ventures, including notable angel investors Shlomi Ben Haim, JFrog’s co-founder and CEO, Chris Rice, co-CEO of Fifth Season, Guy Schory of Digital Endeavor, Ryan Floyd of Storm Ventures, Ali Behnam of Riviera Partners and Oded Vardi, ICQ co-founder.

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Panjaya was co-founded by Hilik Shani (VP Research) and Ariel Shalom (CTO) almost three years ago. The two deep learning specialists, who previously worked for the Israeli government, were joined in 2023 by Guy Piekarz, who took the role of CEO. Piekarz sold startup Match to Apple in 2013 and spent almost 10 years at the company, helping build Apple TV and its sports vertical.

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By integrating neural voice synthesis, computer vision, and Natural Language Processing (NLP), Panjaya aims to help organizations to deliver culturally authentic and inclusive experiences across languages.

Since the launch of its pilot program earlier this year, TED has integrated BodyTalk into its global content strategy, translating Talks into multiple languages, including Portuguese, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.

“BodyTalk offers something rare in today’s digital world—a ‘deep truth’ in communication,” said Guy Piekarz, CEO of Panjaya.ai. “By focusing on synchronization, our platform delivers content that feels aligned with the original, helping partners connect with their global audiences in a more impactful way.”