This investment is a first of its kind in East Africa and is
set to elevate entertainment companies in Africa as potential partners in the
VC investments realm. The amount of the funding was not immediately disclosed.
Founded in 2020, Ada Animation was born out of the desire to
build capacity in the animation industry, tell animated African stories and
catalyze the animation industry for growth.
Ada Animation will use the secured investment to support the
company’s growth ambitions to hire great talent, create African content, and
further develop its proprietary technology. Ada Animation is supported by a
strong advisory board of Dean Lyon, Director at Splinter Studios; Jack
Giarraputo, Co-Founder at Happy Madison Productions; Firdaus Kharas at CEO at
Chocolate Moose; Joann Yarrow at Executive Director at LIVE Animation Studios.
As part of Platform’s investment, Dr. Akintoye Akindele, Chairman of Platform
Capital will join the board.
Speaking of the investment, Joy Mwangi, CEO of Ada Animation
said, “We are incredibly proud of our partnership with Unicorn Group, a
Platform Capital company. This strategic investment represents an important
step in our growth as a company, we will immediately ramp up our efforts to
attract top talent in animation production to join our journey. Ada Animation
is at the forefront of animation industry on the continent, changing the way we
represent our content to produce more than we consume and share our stories
from our perspectives. We see huge potential for Ada Animation content on
millions of screens worldwide. The world will watch movies made from our
imagination and will visualize color and creativity born from our culture.”
“We look forward to showcasing to the international
community that there is a massive animation market opportunity in Africa for
investment and scale through our work, talent and programs. The timing is so
critical for us as we have started producing our first animation movie set for
a global release next year.” Concluded Mwangi.
Akintoye Akindele, Chairman of the Unicorn Group, explained
“We are excited about our partnership with Ada Animation. We have seen how
passionate and committed they have been since inception to add value into the
animation creatives sector in Africa. We see this as an opportunity to build a
dynamic animation industry for the youth. It is about time we fabricated and
developed a platform that encourages and supports young creatives on the
continent to be at the epicenter of telling African stories. We are optimistic
about the development of creative talent and growth of homegrown platforms that
will spur international companies’ partnerships in boosting the animation
industry.”.
The funding comes soon after the company’s recent
partnership with Kenya Film Commission (KFC) to launch an animation summit and
the second season of Ada Animation boot camp that will be the largest
nationwide training program in the sector.
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