Light Chaser, the animation studio that aspires to be China’s Pixar, announced today that it has raised $20 million in series B funding led by GGV Capital, with participation from Hillhouse Capital and returning investor IDG.
The company was launched in March 2013 by Tudou founder Gary Wang after Tudou merged with Youku, creating China’s biggest streaming video site and aspires to make high-quality computer animated films with a “Chinese cultural touch.”
Light Chaser, which has spent the past year and a half filling out its art, technology, and management rosters, also said that its first 3D animated feature, “Little Door Spirits,” will be completed by July 2015 with a budget of RMB 70 million (about $12 million).
While “Little Door Spirits” won’t be released for another year at least, Light Chaser has released a short film called “Little Yeyos” as a preview of what it can do.
In a statement, Jixun Foo, managing partner at GGV Capital, said “The movie market in China is booming, and certainly there is a very significant growth space for Chinese animated feature films. 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.”