Wasabi Entertainment

What Wasabi Entertainment does

Wasabi Entertainment is a privately held, creator-led multiplatform content studio founded in January 2018 in Toronto, Canada, operating as the original content division of Relish Interactive (founded 2008). The company develops original intellectual property across five simultaneous platforms: apps, games, publishing, film, and television, organized around interconnected children's and family storyworlds. Its active IP portfolio includes at least seven franchises — Weirdwood Manor (app, book series, TV show), Daughter Of Bells (feature film and adventure game with Aircraft Pictures), Razicals (app, game, TV show), Super Punch (TV show commissioned by Cartoon Network Latin America), Shadowrail Circus (app and film), IndieBlitz (game and TV show), and Against the Odds (book series, game, TV show) — supported by two dedicated imprints, The Lost Library (interactive reading apps) and Grey Ridge Games (boardgames).

Production is built on industry-standard animation and interactive tooling, including Maya, Harmony, Unity, and Unreal game engines, with proprietary capability in producing animated assets inside real-time engines so the same assets can serve both gaming and animation purposes. The 2020 acquisition of Costa Rica-based Rocket Cartoons added an in-house animation studio and the first original content studio in Costa Rica, extending operational reach to five cities: Toronto, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Ottawa, and San José. The company has won Apple 'Best of 2015' and iPad App of the Year Runner-up for Weirdwood Manor, and has been recognized by Kidscreen, Banff World Media Festival, and Youth Media Alliance Awards.

Revenue is generated primarily through IP licensing, royalties, content commissions, and animation services rather than direct consumer sales, with named enterprise counterparties including Cartoon Network Latin America (broadcast commission), Henry Holt Books for Young Readers / Macmillan Publishing (publishing partner), and Aircraft Pictures (feature film co-producer). Customer-facing pricing is not publicly disclosed. The company has no disclosed external funding and operates as a bootstrapped subsidiary of Relish Interactive.

Name

Wasabi Entertainment

Legal name

Wasabi Entertainment

Website

https://wasa.bi

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Wasabi Entertainment is a Toronto-based, privately held multiplatform children's content studio that develops original storyworld IP across apps, games, publishing, film, and television, serving kids and family audiences through enterprise licensing partnerships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Children's Entertainment Content Studio

NAICS

Motion Picture and Video Production (512110), Motion Picture and Video Distribution (51212), Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries (512)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)

akta.pro primary industry

Educational Games & Kids/Families Game Studios (MPAFAAAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Outsourced Art/Audio Production Services (2D/3D, Animation, VFX, Audio/VO) (MPAFAKAM)

Keywords

• Multiplatform storytelling
• Children's entertainment IP
• Original content studio
• Interactive story apps
• Animated content production

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. IP Licensing and Content Production: Creating original intellectual property that is developed across multiple platforms including apps, games, books, film, and television. Revenue is generated through commissions, licensing deals, and content production partnerships.
2. Animation Services: Providing animation production capabilities through Rocket Cartoons acquisition, producing both traditional animation and real-time animation for original productions and potentially client work.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Wasabi Entertainment is a creator-led content studio that develops original multiplatform intellectual property (IP) across apps, games, publishing, film, and television. The company builds interconnected storyworlds for kids and families, licensing IP to publishers, broadcasters, and app stores while producing animation and games in-house via game engines (Unity, Unreal) and traditional pipelines. Revenue is generated primarily through IP licensing, content commissions, animation services, and direct digital distribution.

Product overview

Wasabi Entertainment is a creator-led content studio that develops multiplatform intellectual property across immersive, interconnected storyworlds. The company operates two imprints—The Lost Library (interactive story apps) and Grey Ridge Games (boardgames)—while producing original IP including Weirdwood Manor (app, book series, TV show), Daughter Of Bells (feature film, adventure game), Razicals (app, game, TV show), Super Punch (TV show), Shadowrail Circus (app, film), IndieBlitz (game, TV show), and Against the Odds (book series, game, TV show). The portfolio spans apps, games, publishing, film, and television platforms, unified by the mission to spark imagination through multiplatform storytelling and play.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Lost Library: Interactive story apps that foster a love of reading.
• Grey Ridge Games

Products and services

• Weirdwood Manor Multiplatform IP franchise featuring an interactive storybook app, book series, and TV show, where children with peculiar gifts enter a magical world where creativity brings fantastical worlds into being. Targeted at kids and families.

Quantifiable outcome

• Apple 'Best of 2015' selection for Weirdwood Manor app
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Henry Holt Books for Young Readers (Macmillan Publishing)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 April 2020Publishing partner for The Thieves of Weirdwood book series, a prequel to Weirdwood Manor. Founded in 1866, one of the oldest trade publishers in the United States known for quality picture books, chapter books, and novels for preschoolers through young adults.
• Rocket CartoonscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 February 2020Costa Rica-based indie animation studio and first original content studio in Costa Rica. Known for Kip Van Creepy (DreamWorksTV) and Terror in Doomsville (Cartoon Network). Acquired to grow animation team and produce original content including Super Punch.
• Aircraft PicturescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 May 2018Toronto-based independent production company co-producing Daughter of Bells animated feature film. Aircraft Pictures is behind The Breadwinner (Golden Globe and Oscar-nominated). Anita Doron signed on to write the feature film screenplay.
• Relish InteractivecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParent company of Wasabi Entertainment. Founded 10 years ago, Relish has built apps, games, websites, videos, and interactive digital experiences with major brands including NFL, Nickelodeon, PBS, Nelvana, Dell, and Salesforce.
• Christian McKay HeidickercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNewbery Honor-winning author who collaborated with Wasabi to write The Thieves of Weirdwood book series, bringing Weirdwood to life as a middle-grade book series.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Moonbug Entertainment: Kids/family digital-first entertainment company (CoComelon, Blippi). Direct comparable in building multiplatform kids IP with strong digital distribution, large audience scale, and a focus on multi-format franchise extension that mirrors Wasabi's model.
• Pocket.watch: Kids/family digital media company that turns creator-led IP into multiplatform franchises including consumer products, publishing, and TV. Comparable in the multiplatform storyworld strategy anchored on a flagship content property — directly analogous to Wasabi's Weirdwood-centric approach.
• Nelvana (Corus Entertainment): Long-established Toronto-headquartered kids' content studio and a specific Relish Interactive past client. Operates a multiplatform IP model around characters spanning TV, film, consumer products, and digital, making it the closest established analogue to Wasabi's strategy.
• WildBrain: Canadian kids/family entertainment company operating a multiplatform IP model (TV, digital, consumer products, publishing) anchored by deep character libraries including Peanuts. Closely mirrors Wasabi's multi-format approach to a single storyworld and operates from the same Toronto ecosystem.
• 9 Story Media Group: Toronto-based kids/family entertainment studio producing multiplatform animated and live-action content. Comparable in that it also develops owned IP across TV, film, and digital with a similar Canadian production base and global distribution via major kids networks.
• Boat Rocker Media: Toronto-headquartered independent entertainment company developing and producing kids/family and scripted content globally. Comparable as a creator-led multiplatform studio pursuing IP ownership across animation, TV, and digital formats.
• Guru Studio: Toronto-based creator of original animated kids series (Paw Patrol spinoffs, Justin Time, Pikwik). Direct competitor in the same Canadian kids' animation ecosystem building original IP for streaming and broadcast partners and operating very lean teams per show.

Others

• Bardel Entertainment: Canadian animation services studio with production capacity spanning 2D, CG, and game-engine pipelines. Comparable as an enabling partner in the multiplatform animation value chain, and a natural adjacency given Wasabi's Rocket Cartoons real-time engine pipeline.

Emerging players

• Tonko House: Independent animation studio producing premium kids/family content (Oni: Thunder God's Tale, Kensuke's Kingdom) combining games, publishing, and animation. Comparable in the creator-led multiplatform IP strategy and independent lean studio structure focused on premium kids content.
• Epic Story Media: Kids/family content and media company developing multiplatform IP with deep ties to the Canadian production ecosystem (Nelvana partnership). Partial overlap in building owned kids IP across formats while remaining smaller and more creator-led than incumbents.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/wearewasabi
• Facebookfacebook.com/wearewasabi
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wearewasabi

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

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 Wasabi Entertainment