Electric Sheep, a UK-based AI tech startup, has secured a £500,000 Smart Grant from Innovate UK, an award recognizing the startup’s advancements in AI-driven visual effects (VFX) technology. The startup shared the news with AIN.
About Electric Sheep
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Electric Sheep is a London-based company founded by Gary Palmer, Jake Laver and Richie Murray. It is dedicated to accelerating the visual effects (VFX) industry with cutting-edge AI technology with a focus on speed, scale and security.
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Electric Sheep has bridged the gap between AI, cloud, and VFX with Spotlight V2, automating rotoscoping at a speed 24 times faster than traditional methods. This reduces the time required to process one second of footage from eight hours to 15 minutes.
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The tool has already brought new efficiency and creative freedom to VFX production, allowing artists to focus on storytelling rather than tedious tasks.
"Artificial intelligence is not just a game-changer for the VFX industry; it's a catalyst for a new era of creative efficiency and innovation. As investors, we see transformative potential in companies like Electric Sheep, whose technology is set to redefine production timelines and cost structures.
By cutting down rotoscoping time dramatically, Electric Sheep frees up artists to focus on what truly matters—creative storytelling. Investing in such innovative solutions positions us at the forefront of a revolution that balances AI's power with human ingenuity," says Angelo Burgarello, Partner at Look AI Ventures, Czech AI-focused VC fund backing Electric Sheep in the pre-seed round.
Investment details
Electric Sheep secured funding from Innovate UK, the UK government's innovation agency, which provides Smart Grants to support UK companies with the "best game changing and world leading ideas." Only 2% of applicants across various sectors receive this funding.
With the £500,000 grant, Electric Sheep is building Spotlight V3, its most advanced and fastest rotoscoping tool to date. V3, launching this year, aims to enhance the video segmentation process for VFX and beyond.
In August 2023, Czech fund Look AI Ventures invested in Electric Sheep during its $500,000 pre-seed funding round.
