Saint John-based Versos AI has launched a video library intelligence platform and announced a partnership and strategic investment with CuriosityStream of Silver Springs, Maryland.
Founded in 2023 by serial entrepreneur Chris Keevill, Versos AI has developed a platform that allows video content owners to license their libraries to AI model trainers and hyperscalers. The goal is to create a large library of ethically sourced videos that can be used to train AI models.
Versos already works with more than 20 studios and content owners in seven countries and is responsible for over 1 million hours of professional video content. The strategic relationship with CuriosityStream is an important milestone, as the US company already partners with most of the world’s largest AI model trainers and hyperscalers.
“This is the validation of so-called product-market fit that we’ve been looking for,” CEO Keevil said in a phone interview from London, where he was attending the MIP London conference. “This platform solves a huge problem for rights holders.”
Saint John is at the center of an industry that didn’t exist a year ago. The flood of new AI-powered products is creating a huge demand for video content needed to train artificial intelligence algorithms. But the common practice of “scraping” video content from the internet has sparked a wave of lawsuits, with video rights holders defending their intellectual property.
Keevil said end users of AI-generated content are starting to demand that that content is ethically sourced. The example he uses is a hypothetical example of a global cosmetics company developing an advertising campaign using AI-generated videos of women applying lipstick. Lawyers for cosmetics companies will not agree to advertising until they are satisfied that the film is ethically sourced.
That’s where Versos AI comes in.
The company has already signed agreements with more than 20 rights holders and is in negotiations with about 30 others. These clients and potential clients from North America, China, the Middle East, and Europe are interested in using the Video Library Intelligence Platform to analyze, organize, package, and distribute video data at scale and establish a chain of custody for their content. Versos works with content suppliers, and its partner CuriosityStream, a Nasdaq-listed company founded by Jon Hendricks, who previously launched Discovery Channel, sells content to AI model trainers.
CuriosityStream made a strategic investment in Versos for an undisclosed amount as part of Versos’ $1.85 million seed round announced last month.
“We’re seeing extraordinary demand from leading hyperscalers, AI innovators, and technology leaders who recognize that high-quality, structured video and metadata are essential to training more capable and context-rich models,” said Clint Stinchcomb, CEO of CuriosityStream, in a statement. “Our extensive library, combined with Versos AI’s best-in-class distribution and indexing capabilities, positions us as the preferred partner for next-generation AI models.”
Versos and CuriosityStream will be joining MIP London, a gathering of major TV markets, to launch the new platform. Keevil is speaking at the event, as is the head of Austin, Texas-based Troveo, one of its major competitors.
Keevil said the company’s priority in 2026 is to sign up more rights holders, and it will also work to raise further capital now that the bank has received investment from Curiosity Stream.
“This concludes the seed round,” he said. “And like any good startup, the Series A starts the day after we close our seed round, and that’s where we want to be.”
