In a 1992 New York Times interview, George Lucas said, “Sound is half the experience in seeing a film.” For anyone who’s enjoyed the satisfying swish of a lightsaber, the beep-boops of R2-D2, or the zoom of a Podracer (or the millions of other sounds characterizing films beyond the Star Wars universe), that remark makes complete sense.
Over three decades later, that insight still holds true—even as the medium itself has evolved dramatically. Cinema has given way to social media as the dominant cultural stage, and generative AI can now produce increasingly long and complex clips. But one simple fact remains: sound doesn’t just accompany what we see—it defines what we feel.
That’s why we’re excited to be co-leading Mirelo’s Seed round. Mirelo is building a state of the art foundation model focused on the sound layer of video.
When testing the frontier of AI-generated sound, we evaluated a wide range of models and Mirelo stood out as a clear leader. It’s rare to find a team that combines in-depth AI research experience from some of the best labs in the world with a background as former musicians with a passion for building creative tools for audio.
We are also excited about the market. Looking ahead, every video model will generate audio. But as we have seen in other model categories, sophisticated creators don’t just want a default output, they want control. They’ll want the ability to audition different versions of a scene’s audio, exploring alternative soundscapes to find the one that best fits their creative intent. They’ll need tools to remix and rebalance stems, adjusting the relative emphasis of dialogue, effects, and ambience just as skilled sound engineers do today. Just as image models allow precise edits—removing objects, refining lighting, or adjusting composition—audio tools will evolve to let creators edit sound with comparable precision. And to maintain continuity and consistency across a project or an entire body of work, they’ll rely on reference sounds, much like color reference frames or style guides in visual production.
Even in traditional film, sound design is far more active than most viewers realize. Much of what you hear—from wildlife to weather—is re-created or enhanced in post production. Sound adds emotional depth, texture, and realism. It’s the half of the experience that Lucas was talking about.
We’re excited to partner Carl-Johann Simon-Gabriel, Florian Wenzel, and the amazing Mirelo team and can’t wait to hear what the future holds.
