Splinter

What Splinter does

Splinter Studio is a UK-based creative animation and illustration studio founded in 1997, operating as an owner-operated four-person team (Chris, Jon, Claire, Adam). The studio produces short-form educational animations, interactive HTML5 games, explainer content, and branded promotional materials primarily for children's platforms, with the BBC — across CBeebies, BBC Bitesize, BBC Ideas, and BBC Wales — as its dominant long-standing client. Secondary clients include Warner Media (Cartoonito), Macmillan, Pearson, King's College London, Unilever, Denbighshire Council, and a small number of heritage and film-sector one-off engagements.

The studio's technical foundation combines traditional illustration and animation with a custom in-house HTML5 game framework built on top of Phaser, supporting Spine-animated assets, localisation, and rapid prototyping through config files. It has produced more than 20 documented portfolio projects spanning curriculum-aligned animations (36 Bitesize Explainers in six months, 15 dinosaur-themed mini-games, 13 Greek-themed mini-games, 18 literacy games, 11 pirate games, 20+ CBeebies Storytime animations) and has developed one proprietary IP — Blabber Beasts, a YouTube language-learning channel.

Splinter generates revenue through project-based B2B creative services contracts, with quote-based pricing and no public framework agreements. Go-to-market is sales-led via direct outreach, email enquiries ([email protected]), and portfolio showcasing through the splinter.co.uk website plus Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Vimeo channels. The studio operates remotely from the UK with no disclosed external funding, no parent company, and no equity investors.

Name

Splinter

Legal name

Splinter

Website

https://splinter.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Splinter Studio is a UK-based creative animation and illustration studio founded in 1997, producing short-form educational animations and interactive HTML5 games for children's platforms, primarily serving broadcasters and educational institutions including the BBC, Warner Media, Pearson, and King's College London.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Creative Animation Services

NAICS

Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers (7115)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)

akta.pro primary industry

Short-Form Animation (Shorts, Web Series) (MPADACAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Content Studio & Creative Resourcing (In-house/Embedded Teams) (BPAFAIAJ)

Keywords

• Educational animation services
• Interactive html5 games
• Creative studio services
• Children's content production
• Animation and illustration

Headquarters

HQ city

Liverpool, England

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Creative Services: B2B creative studio providing animation, illustration, and interactive game development services to educational institutions, broadcasters, and corporate clients. Revenue generated through project-based contracts for creating educational content, explainer animations, and interactive games.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Splinter Studio is a B2B creative animation and illustration studio that produces short-form educational animations, interactive HTML5 games, and branded promotional materials primarily for children's media platforms. They develop curriculum-aligned animations for BBC Bitesize and browser-based mini-games for CBeebies, Cartoonito, and similar platforms, operating with a small in-house team on a project-based contract basis.

Product overview

Splinter Studio is a creative animation and illustration studio that produces short-form content for children, primarily educational animations, interactive HTML5 games, and branded promotional materials. Its core service offering spans two main product lines: educational animation (producing curriculum-aligned animations for BBC Bitesize covering topics such as science, history, geography, and literacy) and interactive HTML5 games (building browser-based mini-games for platforms including BBC CBeebies, BBC Bitesize, Cartoonito, and CBeebies Storytime app). The studio also maintains one proprietary IP — Blabber Beasts, a YouTube language-learning channel for children — alongside its client-commissioned work for broadcasters such as the BBC, Warner Media, Macmillan, and Denbighshire Council. Its studio portfolio showcases experimental internal creative projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Blabber Beasts: Language learning YouTube channel featuring monster characters teaching French (with German coming soon), covering topics like numbers, days of the week, and places around town.

Products and services

• Educational Animation Short-form educational animations for children covering curriculum topics such as science, geography, history, computing, and literacy, produced for clients such as BBC Bitesize.
• Interactive HTML5 Games Browser-based mini-game production for children's platforms including BBC CBeebies, BBC Bitesize, and Cartoonito, featuring drag-and-drop, wipe-reveal, and tap-to-progress mechanics, built using an in-house framework on top of Phaser.
• Blabber Beasts Proprietary language-learning YouTube channel featuring monster characters teaching French (with German coming soon), covering topics such as numbers, days of the week, and places around town.
• Branded Promotional Content Brand content, promotional animations, and corporate communications for clients including Unilever, Macmillan, and The Fyzz Facility film production company.

Quantifiable outcome

• Created 36 animations in 6 months for BBC Bitesize Explainers
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Moth Collective: Independent London motion design and animation studio producing character-driven short-form content for broadcasters, brands, and cultural institutions. Moth Collective operates in the same short-form animation and creative services niche as Splinter.
• Studio AKA: London-based animation studio specialising in character-led children's content for the BBC and commercial clients. Studio AKA is a directly comparable peer to Splinter in size, craft focus, and BBC pedigree, and the two studios have actually collaborated on the Hey Duggee game project.
• Blue Zoo: Independent UK animation studio producing children's series such as Go Jetters, Q Pootle 5, and Digby Dragon. Blue Zoo competes in the same children's broadcast and educational animation market as Splinter and serves many of the same commissioning clients.
• Lupus Films: UK animation studio known for The Snowman and the Snowdog, Ethel & Ernest, and The Tiger Who Came to Tea. Lupus Films is a comparable independent UK animation house operating in the children's and family content space, with similar BBC and Channel 4 client exposure.
• A Productions: Bristol-based animation studio producing children's content including Hey Duggee and Olive the Ostrich. A Productions is a directly comparable UK peer in children's animation, with overlapping BBC CBeebies and Bitesize commission profile.
• Beakus: Small London-based animation and illustration studio producing character-driven content for children's, educational, and cultural clients. Beakus is closely comparable to Splinter in size, service mix, and target market.
• Factory Create: UK creative content studio producing animation, illustration, and interactive work for broadcasters, publishers, and brands. Factory Create is a comparable boutique creative services peer with overlapping client types and project formats.

Broad incumbents

• Aardman Animations: Bristol-based world-leading animation studio known for Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, and Creature Comforts. Aardman is a much larger incumbent in the UK animation space with overlapping children's broadcast clients but a significantly different scale, IP ownership model, and feature/series focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/splinterdesign
• YouTubevimeo.com/splinterdesign
• Facebookfacebook.com/splinterdesign
• Instagraminstagram.com/splinterdesign
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/splinterdesign

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Splinter