Why We Invested In Cartwheel
A new era of animated storytelling for games, movies, and more.
By: Lainy Painter Singh and Sean Whitney
High-quality 3D animation drives many of the most beloved parts of our culture, entertainment franchises and experiences in the world. It has also historically had very high barriers to entry. For many creatives — particularly indie developers, digital marketers, and solo storytellers — the practice has been out of reach, especially 3D character animation.
Cartwheel is changing that and redefining how animated 3D content gets made. That’s why we’re excited to lead their $10M Seed Round alongside Jeffrey Katzenberg’s WndrCo, Ben Feder’s Tirta Ventures and Runway, and with participation from existing investors Accel, Khosla, Human Ventures, and MVP Ventures.
Cartwheel turns video, text and large motion libraries into production-ready 3D character animations that are easy to move, edit and download directly into current workflows. Cartwheel’s generative models produce fully editable, exportable character motion. The results aren’t just video clips; they’re high fidelity animations on professional grade rigs with powerful controls that can be fine-tuned, exported, and deployed across games, film, VR, and marketing. It provides a route around expensive software and long production timelines, while powering up professionals on large projects by helping them iterate faster. The user experience is simple, yet the technology under the hood is anything but.
Unlike many AI products today, Cartwheel is not built on a large language model. Instead, it has created a purpose-built generative engine from the ground up. The system is powered by a proprietary data structure invented by cofounder Andrew Carr, a former OpenAI scientist. Their novel approach at representing motion data enables their Large Motion Models to produce high-quality 3D animations with impressive control and fluidity.
Cartwheel is right on time: While generative models have transformed text, image, and even video creation, 3D animation has remained relatively untouched. Yet the demand for animated content is high and growing exponentially. Game engines are becoming more accessible, but motion capture and keyframing remain labor-intensive. Animators drive the creation of the biggest franchises and games. Cartwheel is built to help the next generation, from independent artists to large studios, tell their stories.
The potential for new types of content is exciting. Since Cartwheel’s model is generative, it’s not limited to reproducing known patterns. It can support original motion sequences tailored to a creator’s needs. This opens up new possibilities, such as dynamic branded avatars, on-demand marketing animations, and even real-time motion generation in interactive experiences.
Behind the product is a standout founding team. CEO Jonathan Jarvis brings a rich background in animation and product design, and a deep understanding of creative tooling from his time at the Google Creative Lab. Andrew Carr, Chief Scientist, combines research excellence with pragmatic engineering instincts. His time at OpenAI gave him a unique perspective on how and when to depart from the LLM playbook. Together, they have assembled a team with backgrounds at Pixar, Unity, Sony, and other leaders in animation and gaming technology.
At Craft, we invest in category-defining companies that reimagine workflows and new creative possibilities. Cartwheel isn’t just making animation faster — it’s lowering the barrier to entry so dramatically that entire new user groups can participate in 3D storytelling. Cartwheel is a reimagining of what creative animation can look like in a world where motion is as generative as text or image. We’re excited to be along for the journey as Cartwheel builds the tools to help animators create the Disneys, Nintendos and Pixars of the next generation.
