Virtual production and gaming company Dark Slope has secured US$1 million in funding from Canadian venture capital fund Relay Ventures, which will go towards IP development and enhancing its pipeline with AI upgrades. 

The Toronto-based studio, which has produced Ready Set Dance season two for Nickelodeon and Babble Bop! for Peacock, will also use the cash infusion to build awareness for its virtual production sound stages.  

Combined with a February investment from Toronto-based CG/VFX tool maker SideFX Software used to build a new 35,000-square-foot virtual production studio (complete with two sound stages) that officially launches tonight, Dark Slope has raised US$2.1 million in total equity this round. 

Dark Slope’s latest projects include three AR/VR titles, one of which is based on animated kids series The Deep in partnership with A Stark Productions and creator Tom Taylor. The company has also inked a development and shopping agreement with Haymaker West (Floor is Lava) for a show concept that combines competitive gaming with virtual production, and it’s co-developing a new IP based on an upcoming graphic novel with three writers who worked on Power Rangers (Mark Hoffmeier, Johnny Hartmann and Melissa Flores). 

Image of Dark Slope’s new studio, courtesy of Dark Slope.