Cheehoo, a Los Angeles-based AI animation startup founded by a team of Hollywood veterans and technologists, has secured $10 million in funding led by Greycroft, with participation from Point72 Ventures, Basis Set, Headline Asia, Powerhouse Capital, Playground Productions, and Rideback. The company aims to transform the complex and costly animation production process by providing creators with AI-driven tools that streamline workflow and enhance creative freedom.
Born out of Rideback – the production house behind The Lego Movie franchise – Cheehoo’s founding team includes Rideback Co-CEOs Michael LoFaso and Jonathan Eirich, former DreamWorks Animation president Chris deFaria, and ex-Apple AI researchers Hubert Tsai and Wei-Cheng Kuo. Their collective expertise blends Hollywood storytelling with cutting-edge AI technology to tackle the challenges animators face, such as time-consuming storyboarding, rendering, and lighting.
Cheehoo’s platform integrates seamlessly with industry-standard software like Maya and Unreal Engine, allowing users to prototype, iterate, and modify animations in real time. Creators can toggle AI features on or off to maintain full creative control while benefiting from AI-assisted character and asset creation. The system also supports third-party AI models from OpenAI and Runway for advanced tasks including motion stylization and scene composition.
One standout feature is Cheehoo’s speech-to-animation pipeline, which automatically generates character animations synchronized with dialogue, complete with natural facial expressions and body language. This innovation drastically reduces manual frame-by-frame work, enabling faster production cycles and more experimentation during the creative process. Currently focused on enterprises, IP holders, and professional creators, Cheehoo plans to expand into the consumer market by developing accessible tools for independent filmmakers and animation enthusiasts. This move aims to democratize animation production, lowering barriers for high-quality content creation without the need for expensive studio setups.
Brentt Baltimore, principal at Greycroft, highlighted Cheehoo’s unique combination of Hollywood media insight and AI expertise as key to solving animation pipeline challenges. He emphasized the startup’s potential to reduce costs and empower creators at all levels, from big studios to individual artists.
As competition grows with startups like Accel-backed Cartwheel and Naver-supported Cinamon, Cheehoo’s strong backing and innovative technology position it as a leading force in the evolving landscape of AI-driven animation production. Cheehoo’s $10 million funding round marks a significant milestone in its mission to revolutionize animation by blending artistic creativity with AI efficiency, promising faster, more affordable, and more flexible animation workflows for the industry’s future.