GenAI animation startup Motorica raises $6.8 million investment

Generative AI animation startup Motorica, which makes a tool that allows the use of a genAI mocap actor to create in-game animations, has raised €5 million (about 5.8 million) in fresh capital.

Announced today, the investment is led by Angular Ventures, with participation from Luminar Ventures. The company says the sum will support its “rapid expansion,” including the “scaling of its proprietary AI platform and continued investment in R&D to shape the future of instant character animation.”

Willem Demmers, CEO of Motorica, claimed that animators spend 70 percent of their time on technical grunt work and only 30 percent on actual creative performance. The tool’s goal is to invert the numbers.

“By automating the grind—things like tedious keyframing for basic locomotion—we let creators focus on what matters: storytelling, emotion, and innovation,” Demmers said in the announcement. “That shift helps studios move faster, push quality higher, and ship with less friction.”

Motorica claims the tool is already being used in live production environments by AAA studios. The official site lists Quantic Dream, Far Out Games, and Digital Continue as some examples.

Maxi Keller, senior cinematic animator at agora.studio who previously worked on games like The Last of Us: Part II and Call of Duty: WWII, said in the announcement that Motorica is “the best tool out there for locomotion animation and Motion Matching,” delivering “better, more consistent results than mocap as they give you exact control on acceleration and target speed, and more.”

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After the secured investment, near-term initiatives include expanding integrations via SDKs and APIs to push for a more plug-and-play nature, growing the company’s data infrastructure and motion library, fostering partnerships with game engines, simulation platforms, and VFX studios, as well as hiring across engineering, animation, data, and costumer success.

“Motorica’s team is committed to augmenting creativity, not automating it away,” reads the Artist Commitment in the announcement. “Rather than replacing human creativity, Motorica’s tools eliminate chores—such as character locomotion and filler cycles—allowing creative teams to focus on performance, narrative, and style.

AI-generated 3D models tend to show noticeable flaws

In the 2025 Game Developers Conference State of the Industry Report, 51 percent of surveyed developers said Generative AI tools are already in use at their workplaces—though 30 percent of respondents stated the technology will have a “negative” impact on the industry. Since then, developers have expressed concerns over the quality of AI-generated 3D models, which sometimes show noticeable flaws.

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That hasn’t slowed enthusiasm for genAI hasn’t slowed down in certain quarters of the industry. In January, Krafton debuted genAI companions that behave in “human-like manner,” while Microsoft filed a patent for “altering narrative experiences” with the technology.

Elsewhere this year, some companies adopting generative AI have found themselves mired in controversy. Independent developer Serene Questworks was accused of replacing its game’s cast with AI voices, and Sony reportedly used genAI to create an uncanny animatronic of Aloy, the protagonist of the Horizon series. All the while, the head of Microsoft-owned Compulsion Games said that genAI use “is not mandated” at Xbox.

Performer union SAG-AFTRA was on strike for almost a year until June 12 as they worked to secure better AI protections and working conditions. That day, the union members were instructed to return to work under the Interactive Media Agreement after reaching a tentative agreement that included “AI guardrails.”

Motorica seems interested in avoiding similar negative attention as best as possible. “Motorica’s team is committed to augmenting creativity, not automating it away,” reads the Artist Commitment in the company’s announcement. “Rather than replacing human creativity, Motorica’s tools eliminate chores—such as character locomotion and filler cycles—allowing creative teams to focus on performance, narrative, and style.

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Update 6/24: This story has been updated to correctly state that Motorica raised €5 million, which translates to about $5.8 million. It previously incorrectly stated the company had raised £5 million.