Toronto-based virtual production studio and gaming company, Dark Slope, announced a $1.5M investment from Relay Ventures, (Relay) an early-stage venture capital fund in Toronto. Relay’s focus is on industries with potential for growth fueled by the rapid adoption of technology.
Dark Slope’s leadership in virtual production and immersive gaming aligns with this philosophy, as spatial technologies and AI continue to revolutionise the creation of entertainment content. This funding will be used to accelerate Dark Slope’s integration of AI into its virtual production pipeline, and to drive IP creation and industry awareness of Dark Slope, its virtual production sound stages, and related services.
This investment comes alongside the previously announced investment from SideFX Software, industry leaders in 3D Animation/VFX tools, bringing the total equity raised in this round to $3 million. Side FX’s funding supported the development of Dark Slope’s new 35,000 sq ft virtual production studio, featuring two purpose-built sound stages and one of the largest LED volumes in North America.
“With Relay’s expertise in supporting growth-focused tech and media companies, combined with SideFX’s deep expertise in VFX and content creation, we feel Dark Slope has incredible bench strength on its cap table,” said Dark Slope executive chair Raja Khanna, “This funding will enable us to expand our capabilities and accelerate our growth, particularly in the virtual production space where we see tremendous opportunity to both service the industry and develop original properties.”
“We have supported two of Raja’s prior ventures and are excited to collaborate with him again,” Relay Ventures co-founder and general partner John Albright. “Dark Slope’s innovative technologies, top-tier facilities, and focus on owning IP, positions them well for significant growth in the production and gaming worlds, and we are proud to support their journey.”
Dark Slope’s decision to invest funds at this moment in the industry’s development was driven by the ongoing favourable content financing environment in Canada, coupled with the increasing demand for advanced digital production facilities.