Linetest

What Linetest does

Linetest is a Vancouver-based illustration and animation studio founded in 2011 that produces hand-drawn 2D, 3D, cel, frame-by-frame, and character-animated content for brand campaigns, TV commercials, online video, out-of-home, social media assets, title sequences, and explainer videos. The studio operates as a distributed talent collective led by Creative Director Hao Chen (with a second Creative Director, Duncan Patterson), assembling specialized animators, illustrators, and designers worldwide on a per-project basis rather than scaling fixed headcount. Core technical capabilities include character design and development, visual development and style exploration, 2D/3D hybrid compositing, storyboarding, rough and final animation, clean-up, and audio integration, delivered as multi-channel campaign assets tailored to client brand guidelines.

Linetest serves two buyer types: enterprise brands (Home Depot, WWF, Mastercard, Takeda, Lärabar, Netflix, Discord, Royal Canadian Mint, Ontario Power Generation, SAP, Monstercat, London Drugs, Revinate, Jostle, Blacksmith Applications, BIG Blockchain Intelligence Group) and the major advertising and creative agencies that brief those brands (Saatchi & Saatchi, BBDO, McCann, DDB, Cossette, The Sequence Group, Animagic, Rethink Canada, 123W). Project examples span healthcare/pharma (Takeda's "Adventures of The Esophacrew" with multiple dot Comm awards), nonprofit/environmental (WWF "Less Noise, More Life," Silver Telly), consumer goods (Lärabar Anthem, Gold Telly), retail (Home Depot "Real Change," featured in The Stash Permanent Collection), and government (Royal Canadian Mint Equality Dollar). The company has earned industry recognition from The Stash, Motionographer, Telly Awards, dot Comm Awards, School of Motion, Pixie Awards, and Applied Arts Magazine between 2015 and 2021.

The business model is project-based custom services revenue, with one-time engagements scoped to client briefs and quoted on a per-project basis through direct contact ([email protected]). Pricing is not publicly disclosed. Distribution operates via two channels: direct enterprise inquiries and agency-partner routing. The company is privately held, founder-led, bootstrapped with no disclosed external funding or parent company, headquartered at 306-128 W 6th Avenue in Vancouver, BC, with a headcount of 1-10 employees. Marketing is portfolio-driven through the linetest.tv website and organic social on Instagram, Behance, and Vimeo.

Name

Linetest

Legal name

Linetest

Website

https://linetest.tv

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Linetest is a Vancouver-based illustration and animation studio that produces hand-drawn 2D, 3D, cel, and character-animated campaigns, TV spots, and title sequences for enterprise brands and major advertising agencies on a project basis.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Animation & Illustration Services

NAICS

Postproduction Services and Other Motion Picture and Video Industries (51219), Other Motion Picture and Video Industries (512199)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)

akta.pro primary industry

Post-Production (Editorial, Color, Online Finishing) (MPAAAMAB)

Keywords

• Animation studio services
• Illustration design services
• Brand campaign animation
• Motion graphics production
• Character design services

Headquarters

HQ city

Vancouver

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Animation and Illustration Services: Custom animation and illustration projects for brand campaigns, anthems, OLVs, OOH, social content, GIFs, explainers, and title sequences. Revenue is generated through project-based engagements with agencies and direct clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Linetest is an illustration and animation studio that produces animation-driven films, brand campaigns, title sequences, and visual assets for advertising agencies and corporate brands. The studio operates through a talent collective model that combines hand-crafted 2D and 3D animation, cel animation, and character development to deliver commercial creative work for clients.

Product overview

Linetest is a creative animation and illustration studio that operates as a talent collective, assembling diverse artistic skills worldwide to serve each unique project. The studio specializes in hand-drawn, 2D, and 3D animation combined with illustration services to produce brand anthems, TV commercials (TVC), online video (OLV), out-of-home (OOH) content, social media assets, GIFs, explainer videos, and title sequences. Led by Creative Director Hao Chen, the collective model allows Linetest to scale teams with specialized animators, illustrators, and designers to meet the specific demands of each campaign, working across industries including healthcare, retail, food and beverage, entertainment, and non-profit organizations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Animated Films & Brand Campaigns

Named customers18 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Saatchi & Saatchi WellnesscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Takeda healthcare campaign 'The Adventures of The Esophacrew' - full redesign of existing assets from ground up with series of animation, static, and comic strip deliverables. Agency collaborated on character designs through multiple iterations.
• BBDOcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on Thrifty Foods Summer Campaign 2020 & 2021 - multi-deliverable project including 3D asset designs, 2D social assets, print POS assets, and TVC/OLV animations.
• McCanncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Mastercard 'Priceless Moments' campaign creating series of animations for brand collabs with Oral B, Costco, and Best Buy.
• DDBminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSelect partner listed on website as part of client/partner network.
• CossettecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Royal Canadian Mint 'Equality Dollar' commemorative animation for 50th anniversary.
• The Sequence GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProduction partner for Netflix 'The Princess Switch: Switched Again' title sequence project.
• AnimagiccoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProduction partner for Discord 'Imagine a Place' campaign featuring Danny DeVito.
• Rethink CanadacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAgency partnership on London Drugs 'Connected Wellness' campaign - developed 15-second TV spot and digital/print assets.
• 123WminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAgency partnership on BIG Blockchain Intelligence Group animated spots combining 3D and 2D elements.
• TELUSminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSelect partner listed on website as part of client/partner network.
• SAPminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSelect partner listed on website as part of client/partner network. Previous collaboration on Lumira visualization.
• NetflixcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDirect client relationship for Netflix title sequence for 'The Princess Switch: Switched Again' produced via The Sequence Group.
• TEDminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSelect partner listed on website as part of client/partner network.
• LululemonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSelect partner listed on website as part of client/partner network.
• KohlerminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSelect partner listed on website as part of client/partner network.
• DiscordcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDirect client relationship for 'Imagine a Place' animated digital background campaign produced with Animagic.
• LärabarcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDirect client relationship for multiple projects including Anthem and Protein campaigns - Gold Telly Award winner.
• WWFcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDirect client for Arctic conservation campaign 'Less Noise, More Life' - multiple award winner including Telly Award Silver.
• Home DepotcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDirect client for 'Real Change' campaign featured in The Stash Permanent Collection.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• Giant Ant: A Toronto-based animation and motion design studio producing illustration-driven campaigns for brands and agencies. Comparable to Linetest in size, scope (animation + illustration), agency-channel distribution, and award-circuit activity.
• Buck: A boutique animation and design studio delivering illustration-driven campaigns for global brands and agencies. Direct comparable on creative output (animation, character design, brand anthems) and agency-mediated GTM, though larger in scale.
• Le Cube: An Argentina-based animation studio producing commercials and branded content with a stylized, illustrative approach. Comparable on boutique studio model, agency-mediated GTM, and award-circuit positioning.
• Golden Wolf: A London-based animation studio specializing in character-driven and stylized content for brands and entertainment. Comparable on illustration-led animation, agency partnerships, and award-circuit positioning.
• Not To Scale: A London-based animation studio producing illustration- and design-led commercials and brand content for global agencies. Direct peer on boutique scale, stylistic differentiation, and project-based engagement model.
• Oddfellows: A Portland-based animation and design studio producing hand-crafted illustrative campaigns for brands and agencies. Direct peer on hybrid 2D/3D capabilities, character-driven storytelling, and project-based studio model.
• Hornet Inc. A New York-based animation and motion design studio producing branded content, commercials, and title sequences. Comparable on studio scale, agency-channel GTM, and broad deliverable mix (TVC, OLV, social).
• Gunner Abrasive Films: A boutique animation and production studio producing stylized, design-driven commercials and brand content. Comparable on boutique scale, agency-channel distribution, and emphasis on craft-driven visual storytelling.

Broad incumbents

• Psyop: A well-established, larger animation and VFX studio producing commercials, films, and digital content for major brands and agencies. Comparable in creative output (animation, illustration, hybrid 2D/3D) but operates at materially greater scale and broader capability footprint than Linetest.
• The Mill: A global, large-scale VFX and creative content studio serving agencies and brands with commercial production. Comparable in agency-channel GTM and animation deliverables, but operates at much larger scale with broader post-production and VFX capability.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/linetestcollective
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/linetest

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Linetest