Light Chaser Animation Studios announced today that it has closed a US$20 million Series B round of funding. GGV Capital and Chengwei Capital led the funding round while Hillhouse Capital and IDG, the Series A investor, participated. China Renaissance was the financial advisor.

Light Chaser was founded in March 2013 by Gary Wang, founder of Tudou.com. It aims to create world-class animated films with Chinese cultural touch. Within 15 months, Light Chaser has attracted art, technology and management talents from around the globe. The production for Light Chaser's first 3D animated feature film Little Door Spirits will be completed by July 2015 with a budget of RMB70 million (US$12 million).

'The movie market in China is booming, and certainly there is a very significant growth space for Chinese animated feature films,' said Jixun Foo, managing partner at GGV Capital. 'We are impressed by the vision and execution capability of Light Chaser. Within a very short period of time, they have built up an excellent team and a world-class animation production pipeline. It's very exciting that Light Chaser's animation and CG capabilities are already at a level close to Hollywood.'

Sha Ye, managing director at Chengwei Capital, having seen the full story reel of Little Door Spirits after reading its script, said, 'the film tells a novel and interesting story. You will laugh and you will be touched. I will definitely bring my kids to see this film in cinema. Light Chaser's second film project has also been started. It's a different style from the first one, and yet equally enthralling. We are really looking forward to them.'

'Light Chaser is still an early stage venture. We much appreciate the attention and support from all of our friends,' said Gary Wang. 'We aim to create highest quality works that are truly original and would fuse both art and technology.'