Vancouver’s Ziva Dynamics has raised a $7 million seed round led by Grishin Robotics, Toyota AI Ventures and Millennium Technology Value Partners’ New Horizons Fund.

Ziva Dynamics is a virtual character software company that is changing the character creation process by bringing physics-embedded soft tissue simulation to the forefront of the media and entertainment industry.

With Ziva, artists are rapidly producing CG characters with dynamic muscles, fat and skin that automatically flex, wrinkle and jiggle just as they would in real life.

Founded in 2015, Ziva’s technology is used by leading film, entertainment, retail and consumer brand companies around the world.

The funding will be used to make key hires, advance development on Ziva’s real-time digital character engine, and radically expand the company’s sales and marketing capabilities.

The brainchild of Academy Award winner James Jacobs and USC Associate Professor of Computer Science Jernej Barbic, Ziva’s character authoring tool has already been used by over 100 studios on titles such as Game of Thrones, The Meg and Captain Marvel.

“The video game industry is set to reach over $300 billion by 2025 and console games, the fastest-growing game category, made over $47.9 billion in 2019 alone. We’re proud to be delivering on major titles for next-gen console games already,” said co-founders Jacobs and Barbic.

“Our biomechanics, soft tissue and machine learning technologies are finally intersecting with the optimization of game consoles, enabling us to introduce the highest-quality characters to a space that is constantly pushing for better, faster results. With our new partners and funding, we’ll be able to double our R&D spend, accelerate productization and play a defining role in the most advanced graphics experiences.”