Animaj, a next-generation kids’ media company, has announced the closing of an $85M funding round led by HarbourView Equity Partners (USA) and Bpifrance Large Venture (France), with support from JP Morgan, Bootstrap Europe, Left Lane Capital, XAnge, Daphni, and Marquee Ventures. The funding will fuel Animaj’s strategy to transform high-potential children’s IPs into global, multi-format franchises, using a hybrid model that merges AI-powered production with platform-native content development.
Since its founding in 2022, the company has rapidly scaled to become the 5th largest digital kids’ player globally on YouTube (Tubular Labs), drawing over 22 billion annual views and 240 million unique viewers per month. Its flagship title, "Pocoyo," is distributed across more than 100 platforms, including Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Spotify, and FAST channels.
Co-founded by serial entrepreneur Sixte de Vauplane and former Google/YouTube executive Grégory Dray, Animaj is based on the belief that the next generation of kids’ franchises will be born on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Spotify, Netflix, and Roblox—where kids already spend their time. To succeed in these environments, content must be tailored in both format and pace, with stories that resonate.
To meet this challenge, Animaj developed a proprietary GenAI animation pipeline from day one. It combines AI-driven sketch-to-pose prediction with a motion-in-betweening layer to deliver expressive animation quickly while preserving each character’s distinct tone and identity.
Sixte de Vauplane, co-founder & CEO referred to the production model as truly innovative: “We’re building something that never existed before. Animaj is a new kind of media company: data-driven, AI-powered, digital-first but multiplatform by design,” “We start where kids are—YouTube, Roblox, TikTok, Spotify—and we build from there," expressed.
This new capital will help Animaj scale its AI-powered, digital-first ecosystem—expanding across YouTube, TikTok, Roblox, Spotify, and FAST channels—and build original IP into global franchises from day one. On the AI side, the company is already developing the next iteration of its pipeline to deliver increasingly personalized and interactive content.
Following the acquisition of the iconic Hispanic brand "Pocoyo," Animaj will continue accelerating its IP acquisition strategy, aiming to build a portfolio that spans preschool to tween audiences, and digital-native to cross-generational franchises.
Finally, Grégory Dray, co-founder & Chief Business Officer highlighted the modern approach:"There’s an extraordinary pool of kids’ IP developed by independent studios and creators that hasn’t reached its full potential. With a modern, platform-native approach, we want to amplify these brands globally without compromising their creative DNA", expressed.
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