{"id":"853fd852-3173-4825-98f6-de82db4024b0","name":"Soul Machines","slug":"soul-machines","description":"Soul Machines is a New Zealand-founded AI company that creates lifelike, autonomously animated digital people powered by its patented Digital Brain technology. Using Biological AI that simulates human nervous system responses, the company's digital humans can see, hear, talk, react, and empathize in real time. Products include Soul Machines Studio (freemium avatar creation platform), Digital Workforce (enterprise AI workers), and Workforce Connect (ServiceNow integration).","status":"private","founded":2016,"hq":"Auckland, New Zealand","hqLat":-36.852095,"hqLng":174.7631803,"hqGeocodedAt":"2026-08-23T21:29:04.703Z","hqAddress":null,"hqPrecision":null,"website":"https://www.soulmachines.com","fundingTotal":"77000000","type":"brain","roles":[],"reviewStatus":"reviewed","heatIndex":75,"lifecycleState":"active","supersededByCompanyId":null,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.soulmachines.com/","title":"Soul Machines Official Website","sourceName":"soulmachines.com"},{"url":"https://www.forbes.com.au/covers/entrepreneurs/soul-machines-rise-of-ai/","title":"'Challenging time': Soul Machines co-founder on the rise of AI","sourceName":"Forbes Australia","publishedAt":"2024-04-01"},{"url":"https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/founders-out-new-investor-in-at-slimmed-down-soul-machines/FNVWHTJTUFEWZP65B2CAWNMPUU/","title":"Founders out, new investor in at slimmed-down Soul Machines","sourceName":"NZ Herald","publishedAt":"2024-07-22"},{"url":"https://techcrunch.com/2022/02/14/are-lifelike-digital-humans-the-future-of-customer-experience/","title":"Are lifelike digital humans the future of customer experience?","sourceName":"TechCrunch","publishedAt":"2022-02-14"},{"url":"https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/soul-machines-unveils-empathetic-ai-digital-workforce-healthcare","title":"Soul Machines unveils empathetic AI 'Digital Workforce' for healthcare","sourceName":"MobiHealthNews","publishedAt":"2025-09-03"},{"url":"https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/soul-machines","title":"Soul Machines - Crunchbase Company Profile","sourceName":"Crunchbase"}],"keyFacts":[{"label":"Headquarters","value":"Auckland, New Zealand"},{"label":"Founded","value":"2007"},{"label":"Status","value":"private"},{"label":"Type","value":"brain"},{"label":"CEO","value":"Julie Kim (since September 2023)"},{"label":"Founders","value":"Greg Cross (entrepreneur) and Dr. Mark Sagar (Academy Award-winning CGI researcher)"},{"label":"Headquarters","value":"Auckland, New Zealand (now San Francisco based)"},{"label":"Total Funding","value":"US$135M+ raised across Series A, B, and B1 rounds"},{"label":"Key Product","value":"Soul Machines Studio (freemium avatar platform), Digital Workforce, Workforce Connect"},{"label":"Key Technology","value":"Digital Brain — patented Biological AI simulating human nervous system for autonomous animation"},{"label":"Notable Customers","value":"WHO (Florence), Nestlé Toll House (Ruth), P&G/SK-II (Yumi), ANZ Bank (Jamie), Air New Zealand (Sophie), Mercedes-Benz (Sarah)"},{"label":"Notable Controversy","value":"Digital Marilyn Monroe avatar at SXSW 2024 criticized as exploitative of deceased celebrity"},{"label":"Founder Departures","value":"Greg Cross stepped down as CEO Sep 2023; Mark Sagar left as Chief Science Officer ~June 2024. Both resigned from board."},{"label":"Staff Reduction","value":"Headcount dropped from 253 (Jul 2023) to ~70 (2024) amid going-concern warnings and commoditization pressure"},{"label":"Patents","value":"27 patent families, trade secrets and trademarks"},{"label":"Key Investor","value":"SoftBank Vision Fund 2 led $70M Series B1 (Feb 2022); other investors include Mercedes-Benz, Horizons Ventures, Temasek, Salesforce Ventures"},{"label":"Product","value":"Digital Brain Studio — autonomous digital humans with biologically-inspired AI"},{"label":"Technology","value":"Digital Brain™ — neuroscience-based autonomous animation, not scripted"}],"aliases":[],"collisionRisk":"low","reviewNote":null,"atsProvider":null,"atsSlug":null,"factoryLocations":null,"manufacturingCapacity":null,"orgType":null,"burnSignal":null,"litigationEvents":null,"insurancePostureDisclosed":null,"unitEconomicsDisclosed":null,"tickerSymbol":null,"stockExchange":null,"secCik":null,"revenueUsd":null,"revenueBasis":null,"revenueAsOf":null,"employeeCount":70,"employeeCountBasis":null,"employeeCountAsOf":null,"marketCapUsd":null,"marketCapAsOf":null,"marketCapSource":null,"createdAt":"2026-08-09T05:44:10.950Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-21T18:57:59.695Z","jsonLd":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","@id":"https://registry.deploy.report/companies/soul-machines","url":"https://registry.deploy.report/companies/soul-machines","name":"Soul Machines","description":"Soul Machines is a New Zealand-founded AI company that creates lifelike, autonomously animated digital people powered by its patented Digital Brain technology. Using Biological AI that simulates human nervous system responses, the company's digital humans can see, hear, talk, react, and empathize in real time. Products include Soul Machines Studio (freemium avatar creation platform), Digital Workforce (enterprise AI workers), and Workforce Connect (ServiceNow integration).","identifier":"853fd852-3173-4825-98f6-de82db4024b0","foundingDate":"2016","address":"Auckland, New Zealand","publisher":{"@id":"https://deploy.report/#organization"}},"framework_metadata":{"framework_schema_version":"0.1.0","verification_status":"verified","maturity_stage":null,"lifecycle_state":null,"architectural_position":{"cohort":null,"sub_cohorts":[]},"within_cohort_verified_vs_claimed_pair":null,"cap_flags":[],"verification_depth":{"sources_count":6,"primary_source_types":["secondary-established-publication","secondary-industry-publication"]}}}