ValkaAI's $14M Bet: AI That Calls Live Games in Real Time

Jan de Vries · 2026-11-13

What if your sports commentator wasn't just one voice for millions, but a digital persona that reacts to every play in real time—and speaks your language? That's the vision ValkaAI is chasing, and it just got a big vote of confidence. The Czech DeepTech startup has extended its pre-Seed round to €13 million (about $14 million). Look AI Ventures led the extension, with ff Venture Capital joining in. Back in February 2026, the company had already raised €12 million in initial pre-seed funding, led by Rockaway Ventures, with participation from J&T Ventures, Tensor Ventures, BD Partners, Fond Naše Česko, and Petr Zámečník. So why are investors so excited? Let's break it down. ### The Problem: Live Sports Are Still a Monologue For eighty years, sports broadcasting has been a one-way street: one commentator, one script, millions of viewers. It's efficient, sure—but it's not personal. ValkaAI wants to turn that monologue into a conversation. "Its digital personas react to the game live and speak directly to each viewer," says Angelo Burgarello, Partner at Look AI Ventures. "Today, anyone can make a flashy AI clip in a couple of clicks. Few can build an entire business on AI video, and that’s what we’re backing." That's the key distinction. ValkaAI isn't just another AI video tool—it's building a platform for AI-native entertainment. ### How It Works: AI That Understands the Game Founded in 2025 by Vlastimil Venclík (CEO) and Miloš Lokajíček (COO), ValkaAI develops its own generative AI models from scratch—no relying on off-the-shelf solutions. The company focuses on three research areas: - **Video generation:** creating realistic facial expressions and movement. - **Audio generation:** producing natural-sounding speech and reactions. - **Event understanding:** making sense of live data to know what's happening in the game. The real challenge? Making all three work together in real time, so the digital persona reacts naturally and in sync with the action—without getting in the way of the experience. "Live entertainment is built around reactions, personalities, and emotion," says Venclík. "Today, delivering that experience to every audience is difficult to scale. We’re developing AI that can change that, but it requires solving research challenges that existing models weren’t designed for." ### The First Product: ValkaAI Commentator The company has already launched its first product this year: ValkaAI Commentator. It generates live sports and esports commentary directly from event data. Imagine watching a soccer match and hearing a commentator who knows the stats, reacts to the plays, and speaks your language—all generated on the fly. That's the promise. And it's not just for sports—ValkaAI's technology is designed for esports, gaming, and media too, where one live experience can be adapted to different audiences, languages, and platforms. ### What's Next for the $14 Million? With the fresh capital, ValkaAI plans to: - Accelerate research into real-time video and audio generation. - Hire senior AI researchers to push the boundaries of what's possible. - Bring its technology to commercial partners, scaling up deployments. The company is on a mission to build a new category: AI-native entertainment. And if it succeeds, the way we experience live events could change forever. For those following EU Inc news and the European startup scene, ValkaAI is a name to watch. It's a prime example of how deep tech from Europe is attracting serious capital and tackling global challenges. So next time you're watching a game, don't be surprised if your commentator is an AI—and it knows exactly when to cheer.