Hutch founders raise $5M for interactive generative video startup Anorak
What's the deal? Anorak, an interactive generative video startup founded by the team behind Hutch, has raised $5 million in a pre-seed round. Play VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Backed VCDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → co-led, with Supercell and MTGDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → participating. Zynga co-founder Justin WaldronDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → joined as an angel investor.
Who's behind it? Chief executive officer Shaun Rutland co-founded Hutch — maker of Top Drives and F1 Clash — before MTG acquired it for $375 million in 2020. He is joined by chief creative officer Jonathan Alpine, chief operating officer David Amor, and cofounder Tak Fung, who runs the company's AI lab in Chengdu, China.
What's the endgame? Anorak is building its own inference technology to make AI-generated video faster, cheaper, and easier to produce — with video that responds to players' choices in real time. It wants to apply lessons from Hutch's car-enthusiast community to niche audiences that would never justify a traditionally made game.
What's the money for? The round will fund Anorak's teams in London and Chengdu, which now total 20 people. The company plans to release its first playable formats and launch a creator platform in early 2027.
"At Hutch we saw how much a single passionate community can build around something made for them," Rutland said. "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should — taste is the whole game."
The signal: The round is a small bet on interactive generative video, rather than another general-purpose video model — a sector drawing far larger checks, such as Higgsfield's $400 million Series B. Backing from Supercell and gaming-focused Play Ventures suggests investors see potential in interactive entertainment, not just content production. "We're excited to learn how playable experiments will be used in social communities in the future," said Supercell investment director Jari Aalto.
Read more: mobilegamer.biz
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
