It’s by no means been simpler to create and publish artwork than it’s now, and for those who imagine the businesses constructing tech round AI, the manufacturing course of goes to get much more environment friendly. That’s particularly the case with video manufacturing, with corporations of all sizes utilizing massive language fashions to construct instruments that allow you to whip up decent-quality movies and animation with a couple of prompts and actions.
Well-liked instruments on this house embrace Google’s Veo 2, OpenAI’s Sora, Runway, Luma AI, and Shanghai-based Hailuo. Now, a South Korean startup referred to as Cinamon is ramping up efforts to say part of this burgeoning market — it just lately raised an $8.5 million Sequence B spherical to proceed constructing its animated video era platform “CINEV,” slated to be launched in beta within the first half of 2025. Altos Ventures, an present backer, in addition to Saehan Enterprise Capital invested on this spherical.
Cinamon’s pitch is that its platform gives a video generator that may allow you to construct 3D environments, direct scenes and actions, place characters, edit digital camera angles, and extra — all with textual content prompts and sliders.
In accordance with its CEO Doosun Hong, the corporate’s method basically differs from present AI video mills, which create movies by producing pixels utilizing textual content, photos, and movies as reference supplies. In distinction, CINEV combines a 3D asset library, AI movement era, and a filmmaking-focused massive language mannequin to first assemble 3D scenes full with characters and parts, after which allows you to edit them utilizing its suite of video manufacturing and modifying instruments.
“Our approach enables easier direction and editing without consistency/physics issues, making it particularly suitable for longer-form content like films and dramas,” Hong mentioned. “We envision CINEV to be complementary to existing AI video tools, potentially enabling new workflows where CINEV’s output could serve as high-quality reference material for other AI video platforms.”
Cinamon began life in 2019 as Cinamon Video games, a subsidiary of content material manufacturing agency Vonvon. Cinamon initially arrange a JV with NAVER WEBTOON, a Korean digital storytelling platform, to create Possibly, an interactive storytelling app. Dealing with rising information privateness issues, Vonvon merged with Cinamon Video games later in 2019 to focus solely on storytelling within the social content material house.
Whereas its rivals like Loopy Maple Studio began providing animated interactive story apps, fiction apps, storytelling apps, and short-form movies, Cinamon as a substitute selected to give attention to creating 3D animation instruments that might pace up and scale animation manufacturing for content material creators and studios. Regardless that it price extra funding than instruments for 2D content material, they noticed higher scalability potential.
In 2022, the startup started constructing its 3D animation platform, and later built-in AI options to boost manufacturing effectivity. In September that yr, South Korean gaming firm Krafton, Naver Z (a unit of Korean web large Naver), and SNOW, (a digital camera app run by Naver), invested $10 million in Cinamon’s Sequence A.
Going ahead, Cinamon plans to make use of its buyers’ IPs and 3D property to bolster its providing. Krafton has substantial mental property and 3D property utilized in its Battleground video games, whereas Naver Z operates the Zepeto metaverse platform. Cinamon says CINEV can assist lengthen these IPs past gaming by enabling content material creators to make use of these IPs, and doubtlessly drive person acquisition for Krafton and Naver Z. Cinamon additionally entered Nvidia’s startup accelerator, Inception, final August.
“Our potential users include comic, manga, webtoon artists, web novel writers, game developers, video creators, and traditional animators looking for easier workflows,” Hong mentioned. “In 2025, we plan to focus on customers [ranging] from individual creators to content IP companies looking for easier, faster, cheaper ways to create Anime, VTuber, and cinematic video game content.”
Cinamon plans to make use of the brand new capital for hiring extra AI engineers and for R&D. The startup has a workforce of 60 employees with experience in 3D graphics, AI, gaming, and content material manufacturing. This Sequence B brings its complete capital raised thus far to $18.5 million (25 billion KRW).
