# Jeff Lu

> Jeff (Jiajun) Lu is the founder and CEO of AKOOL, the generative AI video platform that ranked #1 on the Inc. 5000 list in 2025 with 37,364% revenue growth in three years. A PhD computer scientist who worked on Face ID at Apple and video processing at Google Cloud before building AKOOL on just 8 GPUs in 2020, Lu has turned a side project generating $100K into a $40M-revenue company powering AI avatars and real-time video translation for Coca-Cola, Amazon, Google, and Nvidia.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at AKOOL
- **Organizations:** AKOOL, Apple, Google Cloud, Microsoft, Nreal, Stanford University Computer Graphics Lab
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** PhD, Computer Science / AI & Computer Vision, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, EMBA, Harvard Business School
- **Known for:** Ranked #1 on Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies (2025), with 37,364% revenue growth, Grew AKOOL from $100K to $40M revenue in three years, Built AKOOL's full AI video stack from scratch using just 8 GPUs

## Career timeline

- **~2013** — Internship at Microsoft
- **~2018** — Joined Apple, worked on Face ID technology for iPhone
- **~2019** — Researcher at Stanford University Computer Graphics Lab
- **~2019** — Worked at Nreal (AR startup)
- **2020** — Joined Google Cloud for video processing services
- **2020** — Left Google, citing restrictive policies on generative AI; began AKOOL as side project
- **2021** — AKOOL generates just over $100,000 in first year of revenue
- **2022** — AKOOL formally founded and headquartered in Palo Alto, California
- **2023** — Coca-Cola selects AKOOL for a League of Legends campaign spanning 80+ countries and millions of face swaps
- **2024** — AKOOL launches streaming avatars and video translation tool; raises venture funding; reaches 2 million users
- **2025** — AKOOL ranks #1 on Inc. 5000 with 37,364% revenue growth; reaches ~$40M annual revenue and ~130 employees

## Achievements

- Ranked #1 on Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies (2025), with 37,364% revenue growth
- Grew AKOOL from $100K to $40M revenue in three years
- Built AKOOL's full AI video stack from scratch using just 8 GPUs
- Delivered AI avatar campaigns for Coca-Cola, Amazon, Google, and Nvidia
- Ran Coca-Cola's League of Legends face-swap campaign across 80+ countries
- Reached 2 million users milestone
- Generated 300+ million AI assets for Fortune 500 clients
- Launched real-time lip-sync video translation in 150+ languages
- Awarded Top 10 Pioneering CEOs and Top 50 CEOs of AI Companies
- Received Globee Award for Innovation and G2 Top AI Product recognition
- Published a book: 'Enhanced Human'
- PhD from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; EMBA from Harvard Business School

## Latest updates

- **2025-08** — AKOOL ranked #1 on Inc. 5000 with 37,364% three-year growth
- **2025-11** — AKOOL and Microsoft announced partnership to shape the future of AI video
- **2025-01** — AKOOL launched AMD partnership for embedded on-device AI avatars
- **2024-06** — AKOOL raised venture funding (round not specified)
- **2024-05** — AKOOL celebrated 2 million users milestone

## Links

- Website: https://akool.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/lujiajun
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/jiajun3423

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/jeff-lu
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-07