A playground display featuring a character from Pocoyo, which Animaj owns. Photo Credit: Rodelar
HarbourView wasn’t kidding about its plans to invest across music, sports, and the wider entertainment space alike. The firm has taken the lead on an $85 million raise for gen AI animation company Animaj.
Newark-based HarbourView Equity Partners reached out with word of the investment, which Paris-headquartered Animaj disclosed in an announcement of its own. Founded in 2022, the latter business says it operates as “a next-generation media company that brings high-quality and inspiring brands to kids.”
Among those brands are Kidibli (touted as the biggest children’s channel on YouTube in Germany, with 30.4 million overall subscribers) and the nursery-rhymes-focused HeyKids (4.5 million YouTube subs).
Notably, Animaj has embraced an all-encompassing monetization strategy – including bringing songs from its IP holdings to Spotify, Apple Music, and different DSPs.
Meanwhile, Sixte de Vauplane- and Grégory Dray-founded Animaj is apparently eager to apply its stable of AI-animation tools – like a motion-transfer offering that purportedly slashes “animation time for digital-first content by 85%” – to other “underused IPs.”
“Animaj acquires and scales high-potential IPs by using data-driven insights, automating animation pipelines through AI, and distributing directly to platforms where kids already are,” HarbourView summed up.
Now, the Pocoyo owner has a sizable tranche at its disposal to help with the buildout as well as expansions for its “AI-powered flywheel model.”
Given HarbourView’s extensive song-rights interests and the music world’s animation inclination, time will tell whether crossover projects are in the cards.
(Snoop Dogg’s Doggyland children’s programming has, after all, topped 428 million views on YouTube alone. Additionally, Animaj’s team isn’t without industry ties. CFO Lin Lei previously held the same role at Endel, while legal exec Asli Gozen was formerly with UMG and then WMG.)
In any event, HarbourView led the $85 million investment alongside French national investment fund Bpifrance, with other backers including Brooklyn-based private equity Left Lane Capital, Paris VC Daphni, and former Believe stakeholder XAnge.
“New debt financing was provided by J.P. Morgan and Bootstrap Europe, bringing the total capital infusion to $85 million,” HarbourView elaborated, with Marquee Ventures having also participated.
Addressing the investment, HarbourView founder and head Sherrese Clarke touted Animaj’s “proven monetization” and perceived long-term commercial prospects.
“Animaj is reimagining children’s entertainment for the digital age,” indicated Clarke, whose company scored $500 million worth of debt financing earlier in June. “With proven monetization, an experienced team, and a strong pipeline of strategic IP opportunities, they are poised to become a category-defining leader. We’re thrilled to partner with the Animaj team as they scale globally.”
Content shared from www.digitalmusicnews.com.