Light Chaser Animation Studios, a Beijing-based developer of animated films, raised $20 million in a Series B investment round led by GGV Capital and Chengwei Capital while working on its first 3D feature.
Other investors in the round include Hillhouse Capital and IDG, which provided Light Chaser’s Series A funding. China Renaissance was the financial advisor for the investment.
“Light Chaser is still an early stage venture. We much appreciate the attention and support from all of our friends,” Gary Wang, the founder of Light Chaser, said in a June 20 statement on the funding. “We aim to create highest quality works that are truly original and would fuse both art and technology.”
Wang previously founded Tudou.com, which is the Chinese version of Youtube. Tudou launched in 2005 and within two years had more than 55 million video views per day. In March 2013, Wang founded Light Chaser to create animated films that show Chinese culture and already it has attracted talent from around the world. The company is working on its first 3D animated feature film called Little Door Spirits, which it intends to complete by July 2015 with a $12 million budget.
The Chinese Pixar
Sha Ye, managing director at Chengwei Capital, read Little Door Spirits’ script and saw the full story reel and said, “the film tells a novel and interesting story. You will laugh and you will be touched. I will definitely bring my kids to see this film in cinema. Light Chaser’s second film project has also been started. It’s a different style from the first one, and yet equally enthralling. We are really looking forward to them.”
Light Chaser’s first short film is called “Little Yeyos,” which means “Little Night Wanderers.” It is a three and a half minute video of several winged children fighting over a pin that reflects light.
“The movie market in China is booming, and certainly there is a very significant growth space for Chinese animated feature films,” Jixun Foo, managing partner at GGV Capital, said in the statement. “We are impressed by the vision and execution capability of Light Chaser. Within a very short period of time, they have built up an excellent team and a world-class animation production pipeline. It’s very exciting that Light Chaser’s animation and CG capabilities are already at a level close to Hollywood.”
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