The creators of the first African animated superhero franchise have raised $6 million in a new round of funding.
The Series A round was co-led by China's Tencent and Italy's Alchimia. Firstminute Capital is one of the investors.
The investment will support the goal of building an intellectual property-focused kids' "edutainment" universe.
The first version of Super Sema was put out by the team three years after they started. The idea to create an animated superhero franchise for kids, especially those in Africa, was because there wasn't one.
She said that there were no African characters when she started. This space was needed for kids in Africa and around the world. To grow up with cartoons that are not only white but also to understand different cultures is what it is for.
She traveled to Africa when she was young. She traveled with her parents to most countries on the continent and developed a global mindset and appreciation for everything.
It wasn't easy to get funding for her first project despite her background and demand for such content. Until the release of the movie, "Black Panther." The success of the movie helped similar projects get investments. The company raised over two million dollars from investors.
Our target audience has always been global. We wanted this to be a big hit in Africa. The CEO said that the mission is really on both fronts, similar to Black Panther, which attracted the most diverse audience ever for being an all- African story. There is a different narrative from Africa to the rest of the world. For all the kids in the world to see themselves represented.
The story of a 10-year-old African girl with the powers of creativity, determination, and team skills is called SuperSEM. She uses science, tech, engineering, arts and math to create inventions from her secret lab to fight the evil robot and his group of helpers.
The show was created to empower a generation of kids to have positive female African role models and to inspire them with team skills by making a fun, exciting series.
There is a team called the Kukua team.
The first season of Super Sema was picked up by YouTube in March of 2021. It was relentless. More than 40 million views have been attracted by Super Sema's channel. The show was nominated for an NAACP Image Awards in January. She is a shareholder in the company. Four-time BAFTA winnerClaudia Lloyd is the producer and creative director of Super Sema.
The second season of the show was greenlit by the video sharing website. The majority of Super Sema's audience is from the U.S., and it's most watched country is the U.K. Super Sema airs on major linear TV networks in Africa, like SABC in South Africa. The show is going to be aired on more TV stations in Africa.
The show could be made more interactive by using some methods. There are immediate plans to launch a U.S. toy line with Just Play and a companion series with real science and do-it-yourself experiments at home. The North American Publishing and Licensing program is going to be expanded with the signing of category leaders in publishing and apparel.
It's possible that an upcoming version will take Super Sema to the metaverse. One of the goals is to have kids enter Super Sema story world and do that in a Roblox experience, where they can just go from online to offline and continuously play and learn with their favorite characters in this very engaging story world. We want to be the Disney of learning and use all the latest technology to create engaging experiences for our users.
Matthew Ball, a partner at Makers Fund, was appointed to the company's board. The company said that Ball's support will be crucial as it expands its story world into interactive and educational experiences for kids.
Paolo Barletta, partner at Alchimia, said, "Kokua is one of those companies that everyone wants to see succeed." We have been a part of their growth journey from the beginning and are proud to support their world-class team.
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