Prime Focus, India’s leading content creation powerhouse, is at the forefront of transforming the generative AI landscape, positioning India on the global stage. Under the leadership of Namit Malhotra for over three decades, the company’s strategic acquisitions have successfully elevated Indian artists onto the global stage. This effort has also earned DNEG seven Academy Awards for visual effects, along with numerous other accolades. Now, as it drives the next wave of innovation, the brand is making a bold leap into generative AI technology with its latest acquisition under DNEG’s Brahma.
Brahma, a global AI and content technology company created by the DNEG Group, announced today the acquisition of Metaphysic, a leading developer of AI content creation technologies. The acquisition, implemented by way of merger, will accelerate the development of Brahma’s AI-powered products for enterprises, IP rights-holders, and content creators across industries, empowering them to create the highest quality content at scale.
The valuation of Brahma following the transaction is US$1.43 billion. Leading Abu Dhabi-based investor United Al Saqer Group (UASG) will come together with the DNEG Group to invest a further US$25 million into Brahma. This follows on from UASG’s US$200 million strategic investment in the DNEG Group in 2024. Metaphysic’s existing investors, including Liberty Global, S32, Rakuten Capital, TO Ventures and 8VC will become shareholders in Brahma.
Brahma is set to develop foundational technologies for AI, data, and content workflow management as part of a comprehensive suite of AI-native products designed to generate user-customized content across video, image, and audio formats. Following this transaction, Brahma’s global team will grow to over 800 engineers and creative technologists. This team will merge the award-winning innovations from the DNEG Group’s creative technology portfolio, which includes Ziva’s technology for creating digital humans and character simulations, with Metaphysic’s pioneering AI technology. Additionally, they will leverage the CLEARⓇ platform, a market-leading AI solution built over eight years of research and development in content discovery, creation, and management, and supported by a global client base.
This announcement comes on the heels of Ziva being recognized with a 2025 SciTech Award by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, as well as Metaphysic’s AI neural performance toolset being honoured at the Visual Effects Society Awards with the prestigious Emerging Technology Award.
“At Prime Focus, innovation has always been at the core of our vision. We believe in empowering India’s vast talent pool with cutting-edge technology, enabling them to excel across industries. With our latest acquisition, we are making a bold leap forward—one that is set to disrupt the global entertainment landscape. This breakthrough unlocks a new dimension of storytelling, bringing our very own Ramayana to life with unparalleled visual fidelity and immersive experiences. Last year, we acquired Ziva, and now, with Brahma’s acquisition of Metaphysic, we have the market-leading 3D and 2D tools to create ultra-realistic digital doubles of India’s most iconic figures across industries,” said Namit Malhotra, Founder of Prime Focus and Global CEO of DNEG.
He further added, “IP rights-holders and content creators across every sector—from media and entertainment to retail, healthcare, education, and beyond—will now have the power to produce breathtaking content at a scale and quality previously reserved for those with the highest budgets. Brahma is set to redefine storytelling through a platform designed for the future of content creation.”
Brahma’s executive management team consists of strong and experienced technology leaders, led by Executive Chairman Prabhu Narasimhan; Founder of Prime Focus and Global CEO of DNEG, Namit Malhotra; and Metaphysic CEO Thomas Graham, who additionally serves as President of Brahma.
The Brahma executive leadership team includes several key members like Ramki Sankaranarayanan, CEO and Co-founder of Prime Focus Technologies, who will also take on the role of President of CLEARⓇ; Paul Salvini, CTO of DNEG Group, who will serve as CTO of Brahma; and Crawford Doran, Director of Character Tools and Workflows at Ziva, who has been appointed Vice President of Ziva.
“With Brahma, we are taking DNEG’s multiple Academy Award-winning visual effects and animation toolsets and marrying them with the incredible power of generative AI to create a suite of AI content products, including what we believe will be the industry’s leading photorealistic AI video creator,” said Prabhu Narasimhan, Executive Chairman, Brahma. He added – “I am excited to expand Brahma from a niche user base focused on high-end movie and TV production to serve enterprises and content creators across various industries. If you have a story to tell and the imagination to bring it to life, we have the tools to help you do it faster, more affordably, and with better quality.”
