Didimo
Didimo is a private AI software company that builds the Popul8 platform and Didimo API to automate high-fidelity 3D character and avatar creation for gaming studios, serving customers from indie developers to AAA publishers.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersLeça Da Palmeira, Portugal
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Didimo does
Didimo is a private deep-tech software company that builds AI-powered tools for generating high-fidelity 3D digital human avatars. Founded in 2016, the company operates a corporate group consisting of Didimo, Inc. (Delaware, USA), Didimo SA (Portugal), and Mydidimo UK Ltd., with operational headquarters in Leça da Palmeira, Portugal and a US office in Clearwater, Florida. Its core platform converts a single photograph or specification into a rigged, game-ready 3D character using proprietary Depth Markers technology protected by US Patent 15-904,667, and exposed through the Didimo API, SDK, and Popul8 product family.
Popul8 is Didimo's flagship product for the gaming industry, delivered in two editions: Popul8 Express, an annual subscription aimed at indie and small studios, and Popul8 Enterprise, a per-game multi-year license aimed at mid-size and AAA studios. Capabilities include instant generation of thousands of fully-rigged NPCs and crowds, automated asset fitting across character variations, and game-ready export pipelines for Unreal Engine, Unity, Maya, Blender, and proprietary engines. Additional offerings include the Didimo API (converting head images to .fbx animation files), the Didimo SDK and source code licensed under Apache 2.0 or a proprietary source code license, a mobile Showcase app, and a customer portal.
Didimo monetizes primarily through B2B software licensing (subscription and per-game licenses), with a dual go-to-market combining self-service bottom-up acquisition (Popul8 Express) with enterprise field sales (Popul8 Enterprise). Named customers include Colossal Order, Avalon, Playable Worlds, Sony, Soleil, and Electric Square. The company has raised approximately $16M cumulatively from investors including Armilar Venture Partners, Portugal Ventures, Bright Pixel Capital, Techstars, Farfetch, Bynd Venture Capital, and Beta-i, with EU co-funding from the H2020 Horizon program.
Didimo firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Didimo
- Legal name
- Didimo, Inc.
- Website
- https://didimo.co
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Didimo is a private AI software company that builds the Popul8 platform and Didimo API to automate high-fidelity 3D character and avatar creation for gaming studios, serving customers from indie developers to AAA publishers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Didimo industry classification
Industry- Product category
- 3D Character Creation Software
- NAICS
- Industrial Design Services (541420), Computer Systems Design Services (541512)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Outsourced Art/Audio Production Services (2D/3D, Animation, VFX, Audio/VO) (MPAFAKAM)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- AI Application Enablement Platforms (Copilot/Agent Frameworks, SDKs) (HDAEANAJ)
Keywords
Where Didimo is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Leça Da Palmeira
- HQ country
- Portugal
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
Didimo business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Popul8 Software Licensing: Popul8 Express offered as annual subscription for indie and small teams; Popul8 Enterprise offered as license per game for large and mid-size studios. Both tiers provide character creation automation software with varying levels of customization and support.
- Didimo API Services: API services that convert images of a person's head into 3-D animation files (.fbx or other formats) for business customers. Accessed through application program interface with fees specified in Order Forms.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Popul8 Express - Fast & Self-Service for indie and small teams |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Popul8 Enterprise - Custom & Scalable for large and mid-size studios |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
Didimo product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Didimo builds Popul8, an AI-based cloud platform that automates the generation of high-fidelity, game-ready 3D character avatars and crowds from a single photo or specifications. The platform is offered as Popul8 Express (annual subscription for indie/small teams) and Popul8 Enterprise (per-game license for large and mid-size studios), and is complemented by a Didimo API that converts head images into .fbx 3-D animation files.
Product overview
Didimo is a deep tech company offering an AI-powered 3D character creation platform for the gaming industry. The core product is Popul8, available as Popul8 Express (self-service for indie teams) and Popul8 Enterprise (custom/scalable for studios). The Didimo API enables converting 2D images into 3D animation files (.fbx format). Supporting offerings include the Didimo SDK for developer integration, the Didimo Showcase mobile app, and the Customer Portal (app.didimo.co). All products are designed for game engine integration with Unity, Unreal, Maya, Blender, and proprietary engines.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Popul8: Automated character creation platform for game studios enabling instant NPC and crowd generation, asset fitting, and game-ready character export for Unity, Unreal, and proprietary engines
Products and services
- Popul8 Core AI-powered 3D character creation platform that automates character generation, asset fitting, and crowd creation for the gaming industry, generating thousands of fully-rigged, game-ready characters with customizable specifications.
- Popul8 Express Fast, self-service character creation edition of Popul8 designed for indie developers and small teams, sold via annual subscription with standard support and integrating with Unreal and Unity game engines.
- Popul8 Enterprise Custom and scalable edition of Popul8 for large and mid-size game studios, including full customization, bridge to proprietary engines, and full client support, licensed per game.
- Didimo API API service that converts an image of a person's head into a 3-D animation file in .fbx or other formats, available to business customers under a non-exclusive, non-transferable API license.
- Didimo SDK Software Development Kit (also referred to as the Popul8 SDK) that enables developers to integrate Didimo character creation capabilities into their own applications and game pipelines, available on GitHub under Apache 2.0 or Didimo Source Code License.
Quantifiable outcome
- 70% reduction in character creation time while improving in-game immersion
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Didimo
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Didimo technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
AI capability6 records
Feature5 records
Didimo partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- P-LabscorePartnership to simplify in-game NPC generation. The collaboration combines Didimo's character creation technology with P-Labs' solutions to streamline the process of generating non-player characters for games. Joint effort focused on helping game developers create NPCs more efficiently.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Didimo competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Unity (Muse / AI Avatar tools): Unity's Muse AI tools and Unity Asset Store ecosystem offer character and asset generation inside the Unity engine. As the dominant engine alongside Unreal, Unity is both a distribution partner and a potential competitor for Didimo's character pipelines.
- NVIDIA (Omniverse Avatar / Audio2Face): NVIDIA's Omniverse Avatar and Audio2Face technologies provide high-fidelity 3D avatar and facial animation tooling, often used as infrastructure by game and metaverse studios. It is an incumbent platform that could absorb parts of Didimo's offering via SDK integrations.
- Adobe (Substance / Character tools): Adobe's Substance and Creative Cloud tools are widely used for character asset creation and could expand into AI-driven avatar generation, making Adobe a broad incumbent competitor for character pipeline budgets at mid-market studios.
Direct peers
- Reallusion (Character Creator): Reallusion's Character Creator and ActorCore libraries provide automated 3D character generation and rigging for Unreal, Unity, and other pipelines, competing with Popul8 Express and Enterprise at indie and mid-market studios.
- Epic Games (MetaHuman): Epic's MetaHuman Creator produces high-fidelity, rigged digital humans directly inside Unreal Engine. It is the most direct competitor to Didimo's Popul8 for AAA game studios already in the Unreal ecosystem, and bundles capabilities that Didimo sells as paid licenses.
- Ready Player Me: Ready Player Me offers a cross-platform avatar pipeline that generates rigged 3D avatars from a single photo and integrates with Unity and Unreal. It overlaps directly with Didimo's single-photo-to-3D-avatar API and SDK positioning.
Emerging players
- Inworld AI: Inworld builds AI-driven character brains and dialogue for games, complementing (and increasingly competing for) the same studio budgets as Didimo. While focused on NPC behavior rather than visual generation, both target AAA character pipelines.
- ZEPETO (Naver Z): ZEPETO operates a large avatar-based social platform with avatar creation tools. While consumer-facing, its underlying avatar technology competes in the broader digital human space where Didimo also plays.
- Uneeq: Uneeq produces AI digital humans for enterprise marketing and customer engagement. It competes with Didimo's stated expansion path into eCommerce and digital experiences outside gaming.
- Soul Machines: Soul Machines creates AI-driven digital humans for customer service and brand experiences. It overlaps with Didimo's longer-stated eCommerce and digital experience ambitions beyond pure gaming.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Didimo social profiles
Digital presenceDidimo compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Didimo financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Didimo leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Didimo subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
Didimo funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds8 records
Investors11 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Didimo M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Didimo
What does Didimo do?
Didimo builds Popul8, an AI-based cloud platform that automates the generation of high-fidelity, game-ready 3D character avatars and crowds from a single photo or specifications. The platform is offered as Popul8 Express (annual subscription for indie/small teams) and Popul8 Enterprise (per-game license for large and mid-size studios), and is complemented by a Didimo API that converts head images into .fbx 3-D animation files.
Is Didimo a public or private company?
Didimo is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Didimo founded?
Didimo was founded in 2016. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Didimo based?
Didimo is headquartered in Leça Da Palmeira, Portugal, in the Europe region.
How does Didimo make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Popul8 Software Licensing is the primary driver. The others are didimo API Services.
Who are Didimo's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Unity (Muse / AI Avatar tools), NVIDIA (Omniverse Avatar / Audio2Face) and Adobe (Substance / Character tools). Direct peers are Reallusion (Character Creator), Epic Games (MetaHuman) and Ready Player Me. Emerging players are Inworld AI, ZEPETO (Naver Z), Uneeq and Soul Machines.
Does Didimo have an API?
Yes. The Didimo API converts an image of a person's head (Initial Image) into a 3-D animation file in .fbx or other format (Animation File). The API is accessible through an application program interface and available to business customers under a non-exclusive, non-transferable license for internal use. Animation Files remain property of Didimo and may only be used as set forth in the API Agreement. The company also provides source code (code snippets, libraries, plugins, CLI, SDK) available under Apache License Version 2.0 or Didimo Source Code License on GitHub. Developer documentation is at privacy.didimo.co/api-terms-of-use-license-agreement.
What industry is Didimo in?
Didimo's product category is 3D Character Creation Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAFAKAM, Outsourced Art/Audio Production Services (2D/3D, Animation, VFX, Audio/VO), with a secondary code of HDAEANAJ, AI Application Enablement Platforms (Copilot/Agent Frameworks, SDKs). Its NAICS code is 541420 and its SIC code is 7372.