In this episode my guest is Subhabrata Debnath. Subho is a co-founder and CTO at Neuralgarage, whose proprietary solution VisualDub provides state-of-the-art LipSync using AI while maintaining exceptionally high visual fidelity. With the hit feature Kesari 2, Neuralgarage also earned the world's first visual dubbing credits.
All my links: readysetdopodcast.comNeuralGarage: visualdub.inSubho: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sdebnath1989/
Cut-through AI dubbing, on-device visual translation, and an Indian startup that just might rewrite the language of cinema—that’s the story of NeuralGarage and its flagship product VisualDub, a generative-AI engine that turns raw footage into studio-quality, lip-synced video in any language while keeping user data safely on the device. Over the past year the Bengaluru team has raised venture funding, won the media-tech category at SXSW, and landed more than fifty enterprise clients, positioning itself as the most exciting AI startup in India for film and advertising localization.
The competitive landscape is heating up. Hollywood’s Flawless AI popularized the term visual dubbing after showing Robert De Niro flawlessly mouth German without a reshoot, while European players push “studio grade” dubbing as a service. Yet few rivals combine edge privacy, near-real-time turnaround, and emerging-market price points. That combination is why global brands—from soft-drink giants to sneaker makers—are already running regional ad campaigns through VisualDub, rolling out Hindi, Spanish, and Thai cuts in hours rather than weeks.
Beyond film and streaming, the technology is already reshaping marketing strategy. Agencies now A/B-test entire voice tracks by region, swapping humor in Mexico for straight facts in Japan and watching engagement metrics climb. Ed-tech platforms are experimenting with lecture translation, and gaming studios are exploring real-time NPC dialogue localization. These use cases create a surge in demand for AI-savvy hardware engineers, speech scientists, and MLOps specialists—roles that remain chronically understaffed in India’s fast-growing deep-tech ecosystem.
NeuralGarage’s path from seed round to SXSW spotlight also shows how Indian founders can out-innovate better-funded Western peers by combining frugal engineering with sharp storytelling. The company’s advice to would-be AI builders is straightforward: curate your training data before you worry about model parameters, own a single vertical use case rather than chasing generic hype, and ship a field-tested product as fast as possible—because real customer feedback is the only benchmark that counts.
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro + Background
(02:14) The Reality of AI Startups
(05:08) The Evolution of AI Solutions
(07:26) What is NeuralGarage
(09:14) Competitive Landscape in Dubbing Technology
(14:16) The Technical Challenges of NeuralGarage
(16:28) How VisualDub Actually Works
(19:52) Unexpected Developmental Hurdles
(22:21) When the Whole Operation Almost Collapsed—And How They Fixed It
(25:08) Over 50 Brands Using VisualDub
(28:23) Transforming Marketing Strategies with Technology
(30:18) Is It Even Acting Anymore after Visual Dubbing?
(33:58) Navigating the Bollywood Landscape
(37:07) Building a Startup in the Media Industry
(41:00) Experiencing SXSW: A Global Stage
(46:07) Comparing Founders: India vs. the West
(49:33) Advice for AI Innovators
(51:05) Future Endeavors of NeuralGarage