Investment firm HarbourView Equity supports Animaj's $85 million expansion round
HarbourView Equity Partners is spearheading an $85 million funding round in Animaj, a London- and Paris-based company that specialises in AI-driven children's and family entertainment.
Founded by former Google and YouTube executive Grégory Dray and Sixte de Vauplane, Animaj's core focus is on creating and scaling global children's and family entertainment franchises using AI-driven production pipelines and a digital-first approach. The company aims to transform high-potential kids' intellectual properties (IPs) into multi-format franchises by combining AI-powered production technology with platform-native content development.
According to Sixte de Vauplane, Animaj's CEO, the company is a new kind of media company: data-driven, AI-powered, digital-first but multiplatform by design. The investment from HarbourView supports their expanding media and IP portfolio.
Animaj's AI tools, such as "Sketch-to-Motion," accelerate animation workflows by automating repetitive tasks, enabling faster and style-consistent production. The company boasts a significant programming reach, with over 240 million monthly unique viewers and 22 billion annual views on platforms like YouTube.
The recent funding round, also joined by Bpifrance, is intended to fuel Animaj's hybrid strategy of scalable AI-enhanced animation production and the global expansion of family-focused entertainment brands. Participation in the 2022 Disney Accelerator program further strengthens Animaj’s access to mentorship, investment, and collaboration opportunities within Disney’s creative ecosystem.
Arduina Partners and Rothschild acted as transaction advisors in this funding round. Funds from the round will be used to scale Animaj's AI-powered "flywheel" model and to revitalize under-utilized IP globally.
Recently, Animaj acquired global rights to the animated property Pocoyo, featuring the iconic blue character voiced by Stephen Fry. France's Bpifrance, an entity supporting the nation's tech and AI sectors, also contributed to the round.
With this investment, Animaj is poised to become a category-defining leader in children's entertainment for the digital age, according to Sherrese Clarke, founder and CEO of HarbourView. The company's innovative approach positions it as a next-generation media company targeting the digital children’s entertainment space with technology-driven storytelling and brand building.
[1] [YouTube] (https://www.youtube.com/) [2] [Disney Accelerator] (https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/disney-accelerator/) [3] [Bpifrance] (https://www.bpifrance.fr/en) [5] [Pocoyo] (https://www.pocoyo.com/)
- With the investment from HarbourView Equity Partners, Animaj plans to expand its media and IP portfolio, also focusing on investing in technology to improve its AI-driven animation production.
- In the realm of children's entertainment, Animaj aims to lead the digital age by combining technology, such as AI, with storytelling and brand building, as it continues to invest in technology and intellectual properties.
