Foundry

What Foundry does

Foundry (legally The Foundry Visionmongers Limited) is a London-headquartered developer of professional creative software for the digital design, media, and entertainment industries, operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of US-listed Roper Technologies. The company sells a portfolio of specialized VFX and 3D production tools — most prominently Nuke (compositing and finishing), Mari (3D texturing), Katana (lighting and look development), Flix (story development and storyboarding), Modo (3D modeling and rendering), and Ocula (stereoscopic plug-ins) — used by major film studios including Wētā FX, DNEG, Framestore, Pixar, Image Engine, and Rodeo FX, with Foundry claiming that every VFX Oscar-winning film of the past decade used its tools.

Underlying technology centers on deep, pipeline-level integration across products: Nuke serves as the compositing hub, with USD roundtripping in Katana, virtual production support in Nuke Stage, and AI orchestration via the acquired Griptape platform (Feb 2026) that allows studios to combine multiple third-party generative AI models within Python-based, secure workflows. Foundry also offers a free open-source Mari Texture Library (BSD-3 licensed, 120+ assets) and contributes to the Alliance for OpenUSD alongside Autodesk and NVIDIA.

Foundry's revenue mechanics combine one-time perpetual licenses with annual maintenance, annual subscriptions, short-term rentals, and discounted or free educational licensing through its Education Collective (priced at $99/year for students, $304 for graduates, $392 per classroom seat). Commercial subscription list prices range from $344 for Mari to $3,189 for Nuke Studio annually, with an education-to-commercial first-year 50% discount path. The company sells via direct enterprise field sales, a global authorized reseller network, and an online store, targeting VFX and animation studios as the primary vertical, with secondary segments in virtual production, broadcast/advertising, and educational institutions.

Name

Foundry

Legal name

The Foundry Visionmongers Limited

Website

https://foundry.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Foundry (The Foundry Visionmongers Limited) is a London-based developer of professional VFX and 3D software — including Nuke, Mari, Katana, Flix, and Modo — sold to major film, animation, and post-production studios worldwide, and operating as a subsidiary of Roper Technologies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Visual Effects Software

akta.pro primary industry

Animation Services for VFX (Creature/Character, Crowd, Simulation Support) (MPADAHAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Real-Time Content & Engine Services (Unreal/Unity, Real-Time Rendering Pipelines) (MPADAHAH)

Keywords

• Visual effects software
• 3D compositing tools
• Digital content creation
• VFX production pipeline
• Animation software tools

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses: Perpetual software licenses for professional VFX tools including Nuke, Mari, Katana, and other products. Customers purchase upfront with optional annual maintenance and support.
2. Subscription Licenses: Annual subscription licenses providing access to full software suite with continuous updates and support. Alternative to perpetual licensing model.
3. Rental Licenses: Short-term rental options for customers needing temporary access to Foundry tools, typically used for specific projects or evaluations.
4. Education Licensing: Discounted or free licenses for students and educational institutions. Student licenses at $99/year for non-partner schools, free for partner institutions. Graduate and faculty options available. Creates pipeline for future commercial customers.
5. Maintenance and Support: Annual maintenance and support services providing software updates, technical support, bug fixes, and access to support portal. Required for perpetual license holders, included with subscriptions.
6. Classroom Licenses: Discounted annual classroom licenses for educational institutions at $392 per seat, enabling bulk deployment for teaching environments.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Foundry develops and sells professional creative software for the Digital Design, Media and Entertainment industries. Its portfolio covers the full production pipeline with Nuke for compositing and finishing, Mari for 3D texture painting, Katana for lighting and look development, Flix for story development, and complementary tools including Hiero, Modo, Ocula, Cara VR, Colorway, and the Griptape AI orchestration platform. Products are sold to VFX studios, animation houses, virtual production studios, broadcasters, and educational institutions through perpetual licenses, annual subscriptions, and short-term rentals.

Product overview

Foundry is a leading developer of creative software for the Media and Entertainment industry, offering a unified portfolio of VFX, 3D, and animation tools. The core product lineup centers on the Nuke family for compositing and finishing, Katana for lighting and look development, Mari for 3D texturing, and Flix for story development and storyboarding — all complemented by Hiero for timeline workflows, Modo for 3D modeling, and the Ocula stereoscopic plug-in suite. Foundry provides AI orchestration capabilities through its acquired Griptape platform and offers AI-powered tools beginning with its 2021 CopyCat release. The product ecosystem is available through individual licenses, the Production Collective bundled package, and the Education Collective for academic users. A free Mari Texture Library provides community-contributed assets under an open-source BSD license.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Nuke Industry-standard compositing and review toolset used in major film productions for virtual production and post-production workflows. Includes Nuke, NukeX, Nuke Studio, and Nuke Stage.
• Mari Complete artist's palette for painting high-resolution digital 3D textures and creating new worlds, with 2D painting capability and an expanding Smart Mask library.
• Katana Lighting and look development software providing control for projects of any size with deferred loading, multishot lighting, and complete roundtripping to and from USD within the application.
• Flix Centralized hub used by major animation studios to manage story development with seamless roundtripping, smoother collaboration, and synchronized workflows; supports smarter shot management and SBP panel workflow extensions in Flix 8.1.
• Hiero Timeline-based workflow tool for compositing and review across projects.
• Modo 3D modeling, texturing, and rendering software for creative design.
• Cara VR Toolsets for managing and compositing 360-degree and VR content within Nuke.
• Ocula Collection of 16 stereoscopic workflow plug-in tools for Nuke that help produce high-quality stereo post-production by correcting color and focus, automatically correcting alignment, retiming stereo views, and providing GPU-accelerated disparity and vector engines.
• Colorway Color management and look development tool integrated into Foundry's product ecosystem.
• Production Collective Bundle packaging Foundry's core products into a comprehensive package for production workflows.
• Nuke Stage Purpose-built virtual production tool that brings VFX artists into the virtual production process and enables teams to iterate on content from pre- to post-production.
• Griptape Enterprise-grade AI orchestration platform acquired by Foundry, enabling users to combine and customize AI models for generating images, video, 3D, text, and audio through Python-based, node-based workflow tools that integrate with Foundry's creative toolsets including Nuke.

Quantifiable outcome

• AI in VFX market projected to reach $30.46 billion by 2035 with 19.38% CAGR
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• GriptapecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 February 2026Foundry acquired Griptape, a pioneer in enterprise-grade AI orchestration, to enhance AI integration in VFX and animation workflows. The acquisition adds critical orchestration capabilities enabling studios to orchestrate multiple AI models and agents within secure, professional workflows. Griptape's Python-based architecture integrates with Foundry's creative toolsets including Nuke, representing the next evolution of Foundry's AI-first pipeline strategy. Griptape co-founded by former DreamWorks animator Jason Schleifer.
• ActionVFXminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership providing Foundry education customers with free early access to ActionVFX Practice Footage Library database containing stock footage plates ideal for classroom use and student demo reels. Students also receive 10% discount for ActionVFX store purchases using code FOUNDRY10.
• ACCESS: VFXminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with ACCESS: VFX mentoring program connecting students with professionals at over 30 award-winning VFX, animation, and games studios. Program provides free mentoring and career networking opportunities for aspiring VFX artists.
• Alliance for OpenUSDcoreTechnology or IntegrationFoundry participates in the Alliance for OpenUSD, supporting the Core Specification 1.0 for 3D interoperability. Foundry's Katana includes complete roundtripping to and from USD within the application, enabling interoperability with other OpenUSD-compliant tools and pipelines.
• AutodeskcoreTechnology or IntegrationIndustry collaboration through Alliance for OpenUSD where Autodesk and Foundry both adopted OpenUSD technology updates, enabling interoperability for industrial and creative applications.
• NVIDIAcoreTechnology or IntegrationCollaboration through Alliance for OpenUSD where NVIDIA and Foundry both adopted OpenUSD technology updates, supporting 3D interoperability standards for creative and industrial applications.
• Stratum V2 Working GroupminorOthersMultiple bitcoin mining pools including Foundry USA (unrelated to The Foundry Visionmongers Ltd) joined Stratum V2 Working Group. This is a different company and should not be confused with the VFX software company.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Adobe: Adobe's After Effects is widely used for motion graphics and compositing, while Substance 3D tools compete in texturing against Mari. Adobe Creative Cloud bundling makes it a broad incumbent in the post-production software market.

Direct peers

• SideFX: SideFX develops Houdini, the dominant procedural VFX tool for effects simulation and destruction. Houdini frequently integrates with Foundry's Nuke in studio pipelines, making it a direct adjacent competitor in VFX production workflows.
• Blackmagic Design: Blackmagic Design's DaVinci Resolve includes Fusion for VFX compositing and is widely adopted in post-production. Resolve+Fusion competes directly with the Nuke family for finishing and compositing workflows in studios of all sizes.
• Boris FX: Boris FX develops Sapphire, Continuum, and Mocha Pro, widely used as plug-ins within Foundry's Nuke and Adobe After Effects for visual effects and tracking. It is a direct competitor in VFX plug-in tooling.
• Maxon: Maxon's Cinema 4D is a leading 3D modeling, animation, and rendering tool used in motion graphics, VFX, and broadcast. It competes directly with Foundry's Modo in 3D modeling and overlaps with Nuke in broadcast production workflows.
• Autodesk: Autodesk's Media & Entertainment division offers Maya, 3ds Max, and Flame, directly competing with Foundry's Katana (lighting), Modo (3D modeling), and Nuke (compositing). Both target the same VFX and animation studios with overlapping product categories.

Emerging players

• Blender Foundation: Blender is a free, open-source 3D creation suite covering modeling, animation, compositing, and rendering. As an emerging threat, it increasingly competes with Foundry's Modo in indie and education segments and pushes pricing pressure across the category.
• Chaos (V-Ray): Chaos develops V-Ray, a leading rendering engine used across VFX, animation, and architectural visualization. While focused on rendering rather than compositing/texturing, it competes with Foundry's rendering capabilities integrated across Mari, Katana, and Modo.

Others

• Wacom: Wacom provides digital pen tablets widely used by VFX artists for painting and texturing workflows in Foundry's Mari. While not a direct competitor, it is an ecosystem enabler for Mari's primary use cases.
• Pixar (RenderMan): RenderMan is Pixar's rendering software used across feature animation and now available for third-party VFX studios. It overlaps with Foundry's rendering integration layer rather than competing on compositing, lighting, or texturing workflows.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/TheFoundryVisionmongers
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/TheFoundryChannel
• Facebookfacebook.com/thefoundryteam
• Xx.com/thefoundryteam

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A2 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Foundry