AI Film Company 'Folded' Secures Millions in Seed Funding Led by Aishi Technology

36Kr has learned that in August, AI digital film and television company Shanghai Folded Visual Design Co., Ltd. ("Folded") completed a multi-million dollar seed round of strategic investment, funded by Aishi Technology.

This round of financing will primarily be used to expand creative and technical teams, build AI workflows, and for the procurement and development of IP.

Folded's core business is not entirely focused on the currently booming AI short dramas, but rather on mid-to-long form animations, animated films, and advertisements produced through a hybrid of traditional processes and AI. Currently, the demand for this segment is growing rapidly in both domestic and international markets. AI hybrid production requires a high degree of integration between traditional content production and large model application capabilities.

Founding team member Sam mentioned, "Domestic platforms are reacting very quickly to traditional + AI, and Folded is currently collaborating on some hybrid production-oriented projects.

Last year, the company delivered S-rated content for Hongguo Short Dramas. Today, on the AI short drama front, Folded is temporarily adopting a high-volume production strategy—because the barrier to entry is low enough, and it allows them to accumulate data assets and discover talent.

With the upgrade and iteration of various domestic large models, the video generation field has become the fastest-landing and highly profitable scenario in the AI track, creating the boom of AI short dramas. 36Kr previously learned that Seedance 2.0, which almost dominates the AI short drama track, has a gross margin of over 70%, making it one of the most profitable businesses under ByteDance's Volcano Engine.

However, a track that could still yield quick profits earlier this year has now become a red ocean due to the introduction of national regulatory policies and overcapacity on the supply side. After the era of making quick money passed, the industry began to consider how to build IP and use AI to reach a higher commercial ceiling. Folded is one of these players.

Founders Cage and Hisun are digital artists with excellent aesthetic and creative abilities. The founding team comes from content platforms, copyright, and AI technology companies, giving the company aesthetic sensibilities while also allowing it to better connect with industry resources.

They believe that the more automated the content, the further it is from being premium. "AI can make it easier for us to produce 60-point content, but 100-point content requires the participation of people who understand AI technology and possess traditional aesthetics."

Folded's overall personnel composition consists of such a group of people who understand both content and technology, forming its core competitiveness. Sam stated that some of the company's directors, producers, and art designers study how to "distill" themselves into various Skills every day, so as to leave more time for thinking.

Currently, tools and models with multiple built-in Agents on the market still struggle to meet the highly segmented needs and team coordination required during the production process of a high-yield company. Building one's own production workflow remains necessary. Therefore, Folded has also built its own AI workflow, including Agents for script breakdown, prompt generation, and character setting, to reduce costs and increase efficiency.

Taking AI as the starting point, coupled with a considerable staff size—Folded has a production capacity team of over a hundred people across multiple cities. The company's monthly production capacity for high-quality content can reach 5,000 minutes, equivalent to about 40 movies.

Folded has also formed a dedicated technical team. In addition to building the internal AI film and television content production workflow, it also supports the adaptation and production of AI games.

Games are a category with a higher commercial ceiling in IP development. Building the capacity to produce lightweight games will help the company further refine its IP development capabilities.

Video platforms, including "Aiyou Tengmang" (iQIYI, Youku, Tencent Video, Mango TV) and Bilibili, are all exploring the use of AI to integrate into and transform existing content production workflows. "There is no consensus yet on whether to use AI to transform existing content production workflows or to create AI-native content, because we haven't seen a truly phenomenal case emerge yet, but what is certain is that AI is the direction of the future," Sam said.

Folded is one of the segmented directions Aishi Technology is betting on. The latter explained its investment logic as follows: As AI content enters an aesthetic elimination round, classic CG has ironically become a scarce productive force. AI video is transitioning from the prompt dividend stage to an aesthetic barrier stage.

Teams possessing traditional CG capabilities and a perception of model boundaries will become the definers of the core production paradigm for the next generation of premium content companies.

Currently, Folded has reached partnerships with multiple platforms to advance the adaptation of platform IPs into films using AI hybrid production, and related premium content is expected to be launched successively by the end of this year. At the same time, it is preparing an AI hybrid animated film for theatrical release.

Sam said that AI is merely a tool and a means, and the length [of the content] is not the key. Essentially, wherever good content is, the audience's attention will be.