ai-storytelling
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Bogdan Nesvit
Bogdan Nesvit is the Ukrainian co-founder and co-CEO of Holywater, an AI-first entertainment company he started in Kyiv in March 2020 with Anatolii Kasianov. What began with a failed live-wallpaper app grew into a global media ecosystem - My Drama, My Passion, and My Muse - that reaches tens of millions of users across more than 190 countries. Holywater turned vertical, phone-sized microdramas into a serious format, drew a strategic investment from Fox Entertainment, and in January 2026 raised a $22 million Series A, the largest microdrama round outside Asia.
Prerna Gupta
Prerna Gupta is the founder and CEO of Hooked, the chat-fiction app that turned bite-sized text-message stories into a habit for over 100 million Gen Z readers and topped the App Store in 25 countries. A Stanford economics grad who once ran consulting decks before building apps, she co-created the music hits LaDiDa and Songify under her startup Khush (acquired by Smule, where she became Chief Product Officer) before reinventing fiction for the smartphone generation. She describes Hooked as 'books for the Snapchat generation' and her own role as a product CEO who would rather build with her team than work a room.
Ali Albazaz
Ali Albazaz is the founder and CEO of Inkitt, a San Francisco-based AI-powered publishing platform that uses reader engagement data and algorithms to identify and publish bestselling fiction. Born in Baghdad and raised in Germany, he bootstrapped Inkitt from a Berlin startup after 140 investor rejections into a $400M+ valued company with 33 million users across three platforms: Inkitt (writer community), Galatea (immersive reading app), and CandyJar (video entertainment). Inkitt has raised $116.8M in total funding, including a $37M Series C led by Khosla Ventures in February 2024.
Lalith Gudipati
Lalith Gudipati is Co-Founder of Dashverse, a San Francisco-based AI entertainment company building tools to democratize storytelling at scale. With a background in high-velocity growth at Pocket FM and Moonfrog Labs, Lalith brings a data-driven operator's lens to an ambitious creative vision - Dashverse's suite (Dashtoon, DashReels, Frameo.AI) has amassed over 20 million users worldwide. In August 2025, the company closed a $13M Series A led by Peak XV Partners, cementing its place as a leader in AI-native entertainment.