Kunda Children, the kids’s media writer and artistic studio just lately closed its $700k pre-seed funding spherical and has launched the Kunda & Mates YouTube sequence, the corporate’s flagship animation sequence, premiering on Might twenty ninth at The Cineworld Cinema at The O2 in Greenwich,
The spherical was led by Zrosk Funding Administration with participation from Voltron Capital, Argentil Capital, HoaQ, Kaleo Ventures, along with angel buyers Abi Ajayi, Chiamaka Ezenwa, Adetayo Bamiduro of MAX, and Benjamin Fernandes, CEO of Nala Cash.
In accordance with Oladele Olafuyi, Creator, Kunda & Mates, “I’m thrilled to announce the profitable closing of our pre-seed spherical, and I couldn’t be extra grateful for the inspiring buyers who share our imaginative and prescient. This milestone permits us to launch Kunda & Mates and spend money on the distinctive artistic expertise throughout Africa. We’re dedicated to bringing forth a brand new technology of African storytellers, and collectively, we’ll change the narrative.”
The funds will probably be utilized to additional construct out the Kunda Children cell app and proceed working with artistic expertise from throughout the African diaspora.
Based in 2020 by husband and spouse Oladele & Louisa Olafuyi to deliver extra African tradition, historical past and language studying to kids’s publishing and educate values reminiscent of self-confidence, teamwork and kindness by storytelling, Kunda Children has offered over 25,000 books to this point, and the Kunda Children app has been downloaded in over 130 nations.
Black and multi-racial characters are among the many least generally proven teams in kids’s media (1.9% and 0.6% respectively), in keeping with a 2022 examine by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. Kunda Children exists to rework kids’s content material and programming about Africa for the subsequent technology. By showcasing numerous components of African historical past and tradition in artistic, enjoyable and easy codecs for youths, mother and father and educators can elevate kids to be international residents with an understanding and appreciation for different cultures from world wide.
Kunda & Mates is a music-led 3D animation for kids set in an African panorama. Kunda, a four-year-old boy of blended African heritage, takes viewers on his adventures exploring the world round him along with his mates Sana, a lady of blended African and Indian heritage, Fela, a boy from Nigeria, in addition to Leo the lion and Ella the elephant. The Kunda & Mates soundtrack music takes inspiration from African tradition, with influences from genres like Afrobeats and Amapiano made widespread by Grammy award-winning artists reminiscent of Ladysmith Black Mambazo and extra just lately, singers like Burna Boy and WizKid.
The sequence’ storyline is anchored on friendship and imparts prosocial life classes, offering mother and father and educators with a possibility to show and play with their kids as they watch collectively.
“Our kids need to be taught extra about Africa’s wealthy and numerous heritage, and it’s our ambition to supply high quality tales in numerous codecs to kids world wide. It’s important for kids to see themselves and others represented in world-class tales and content material. By nurturing a way of delight and belonging, we empower them to develop up as assured, culturally-aware people who will form the long run.” Louisa Olafuyi, Creator, Kunda & Mates.
A core pillar of Kunda Children’ mission is to create extra alternatives for African expertise in publishing and manufacturing. The corporate is dedicated to working with animators, artists, writers, producers and enterprise leaders from numerous backgrounds. Raymond Malinga, Director of Kunda & Mates, co-founder of Creatures Animation Studio and former Disney Producer, shared, “Kunda & Mates is a chance to influence not solely the youthful technology of children from everywhere in the world however to influence the lives of artists longing to work on bigger scale productions.”
The primary 4 episodes of Kunda & Mates will probably be accessible on Monday, Might twenty ninth, with subsequent episodes to be launched within the weeks following.