The Venture Codex

Participated · Equity · Apr 2025

Cheehoo develops AI-powered tooling to streamline animation workflows, speeding prototyping and iteration by handling tasks like data annotation, file conversion, and format consistency. Its workflow integrates with existing platforms such as Maya and Unreal and lets users toggle AI features for more control. The company uses in-house AI models for character and asset creation and supports integration of third-party models from OpenAI, Runway, and others for post generation, motion stylization, and scene composition. Born out of production company Rideback, Cheehoo’s founding team includes Rideback co-CEOs Michael LoFaso and Jonathan Eirich, co-founder Dan Lin, former DreamWorks Animation president Chris deFaria, and ex-Apple AI researchers Hubert Tsai and Wei-Cheng Kuo. Cheehoo says it is already working with several IP holders, studios, and creators. Looking ahead, the company plans to expand from enterprise and prosumer offerings toward more consumer-focused products.