Electric Sheep, a startup specializing in AI technology for visual effects (VFX), is delighted to announce the successful completion of an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round totaling $500,000. Led by Dasein Capital (US), a venture capital firm focused on AI, the round was also supported by Spatial Capital (US) and Look AI Ventures (Czech Republic), both dedicated to advancing AI technologies.
The groundbreaking contribution of Electric Sheep lies in its development of a solution to automate the intricate process of background removal for TV and film, known as rotoscoping. Currently, the industry relies on manual frame-by-frame cuts around foregrounds to achieve the necessary level of detail for the big screen, a task that consumes approximately 6 hours per second of footage and costs over $1.5 billion annually.
To address this challenge, Electric Sheep has introduced Spotlight, a cloud-native solution that boasts an astounding processing speed of 360 times faster than the current method, capable of handling 1 second of footage in under a minute. Steven Sullivan, Partner at Spatial Capital and former Senior Technology Officer of LucasFilm, recognizes the potential impact of Electric Sheep’s innovative platform, stating, “Electric Sheep’s cutting-edge cloud and AI platform is poised to revolutionize several core VFX workflows. They’re taking a smart and pragmatic approach to accelerate some of the most tedious post-production tasks.”
Moreover, Electric Sheep’s decision to adopt a cloud-native approach aligns with the vision outlined in the whitepaper by MovieLabs, a joint venture research lab operated by Paramount, Sony, Universal, and Disney. The whitepaper advocates for a fully cloud-based industry by 2030.
The funding raised in this round will enable Electric Sheep to further develop and enhance Spotlight, the industry’s first AI rotoscoping tool, specifically designed to deliver the level of detail required by Hollywood. Spotlight facilitates industry workflows by providing VFX artists with an editable layer that allows them to make essential adjustments, known as splines.
Gary Palmer, CEO at Electric Sheep, expresses enthusiasm for the partnership with the three investors, stating, “We are excited to partner with three investors with considerable experience in AI, VFX, and building at scale.” Palmer emphasizes that flawless background removal eliminates the need for green screens on set, enabling creatives to capture the energy of a scene without compromising the final image.
By streamlining post-production workflows, Electric Sheep aims to empower artists to focus on their core strengths of storytelling through creative, stunning, and impactful visual effects.
