US video game developer Unity Technologies will buy Canadian startup Ziva Dynamics, which creates software for animating movie characters. About the agreement video announced a virtual Emma model, running on the Unity engine. Its amount was not disclosed.
Ziva technologies have been used to create graphics in projects such as Godzilla vs. Kong and Game of Thrones.
Unity’s goal is to make Ziva Dynamics technology more accessible to game and movie creators. In addition, the developments of the Canadian company will be used by the New Zealand company Weta belonging to Unity. One of its founders was Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson. In November 2021, Unity bought Weta for $1.6 billion.
Ziva Dynamics was founded in Vancouver. The company’s CEO and co-founder, James Jacobs, previously developed the technology used in The Hobbit. Jacobs also received a special Oscar for Technical Achievement in Motion Picture.
In 2020, Dmitry Grishin’s Grishin Robotics fund became the main investor in Ziva Dynamics, investing $7 million in it. The fund has raised $100 million from institutional and private investors from Russia, the United States and Europe and focuses on investing in B2C and B2B2C companies at the seed and A stages.
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