Didimo

Didimo is a company specializing in the development of digital human avatars. The company’s key product, Popul8, supported by the Unity and Unreal game engines, allows users to create lifelike 3D full-body avatars that capture nuanced facial expressions and emotions. Developers can also import existing art assets into Popul8 to generate more high-quality variations of it with support for animation rigging. To further streamline avatar creation, the company added an asset verification system in February 2024, designed to automate generation of 3D characters. The overall tech was inspired by research conducted by CEO Verónica Orvalho and her team at Porto University, demonstrating the potential of virtual avatars in emotional empathy and engagement.

The company claims that its tech is able to render thousands of characters on screen using a single draw call, reducing memory footprint by 99%.

The company was preparing to launch its latest AI-powered character generator and editor for game developers and character artists in April 2024. Didimo claims that this would allow for the creation of hundreds of unique game characters in a fraction of the usual time and cost. Alongside this, Didimo was conducting AI-based research into human face modeling, animation retargeting, and advanced stylization features.

As of September 2022, the company operated a subscription-based model with packages starting at USD 100 per month.

Key customers and partnerships

Notable customers include Sony, AVALON, and NOS Communications.

Funding and financials

In October 2022, the company raised USD 7.15 million in a Series A funding round led by Armilar Venture Partners, with participation from Bright Pixel Capital, Portugal Ventures, and Techstars. The proceeds were earmarked to accelerate the development of its gaming ecosystem, facilitate international expansion, and simplify the process of creating 3D avatars into a single-step, executable in 60 seconds.