Viggle AI, a Canadian start-up revolutionizing character animation through generative artificial intelligence, announced it has raised $19 million USD in Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from additional investor Two Small Fish. The round will enable Viggle AI to continue to scale, accelerate product development, expand its team, and solidify its position as a leader in controllable video generation and AI animation.
The new funding comes at a time of explosive growth for the company, parallel with consumer demand for AI tools that are user-friendly and support the technology’s foray into mainstream. Viggle AI was founded to simplify the animation process by allowing users to create lifelike animations using simple text-to-video or image-to-video prompts. Its proprietary JST-1 technology is the first video-3D foundation model that’s built with a genuine understanding of physics, enabling the creation of realistic character movements.
Viggle AI’s powerful capabilities rose to viral fame earlier this year when videos began circulating the internet of Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker persona replacing rapper Lil Yachy’s walkout at the Summer Smash Festival. Since then, the platform’s intuitive interface and powerful AI capabilities have captured the attention of millions of users ranging from professional animators, major streamers, and production studios to content creators, memesters, and hobbyists. Viggle AI has already established a vibrant community on Discord, attracting four million members to date, where both novice and experienced animators have been able to gain insights from one another and push the boundaries of their creative projects.
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In addition to its core offerings, Viggle AI has launched the Viggle Creator Program, designed to empower artists and creators with exclusive benefits. Members of this program receive a Viggle Pro subscription, an additional 1,000 credits (equivalent to 250 minutes of video), early access to new features, and opportunities to connect with fellow creators through an exclusive community channel. This program aims to support both up-and-coming talent and established professionals in pushing the boundaries of AI-powered animation.
“We are excited to welcome a16z and Two Small Fish as partners in our next phase of growth,” said Hang Chu, CEO and co-founder of Viggle AI. “Their investment not only affirms our vision but also empowers us to redefine the possibilities in AI-driven character animation. As more people seek to integrate AI for a more enjoyable and accessible creative process, Viggle helps seamlessly align consumer demand by combining the best methodologies for building and scaling AI. We look forward to expanding the reach of our technology to an even broader audience and expanding the boundaries of creativity for everyone.”
For professional animation engineers, game designers, and VFX artists, Viggle AI is streamlining the ideation and pre-production process allowing them to focus on their creative vision and ultimately reduce production timelines. For content creators and everyday users, Viggle can generate high-quality animations using simple prompts to create engaging animated character videos within a matter of minutes.
Viggle AI is helping drive a major shift in how content creators approach creation with character and scene consistency,” said Justine Moore, partner at Andreessen Horowitz. “We’ve been impressed with Viggle’s early momentum and the user base it’s already achieved, and we can’t wait to see where their continued innovation will take us.”
Two Small Fish Operating Partner and Co-Founder/ex-CEO of Canadian AI-powered storytelling company Wattpad, Allen Lau added, “Viggle represents the future of content and will upend the entertainment industry much like Wattpad did. As an advisor, I’ll provide guidance that’s rooted in my real-life experience of building a global entertainment platform from the ground up. I’m excited to further disrupt the entertainment industry with Viggle and change how content is created and remixed in the age of Generative AI.”
Viggle was co-founded by Hang Chu, who serves as the CEO. His experience in the tech and entertainment sectors has contributed to Viggle’s early success, strategic direction, and vision in leveraging AI for animated content production. Prior to Viggle, Chu held positions at AutoDesk, Facebook, and NVIDIA.
SOURCE: BusinessWire