VFX giant DNEG has acquired a stake in Canary Islands animation studio Anima Kitchent in a deal supported by Spain’s state-owned Spanish Society for Technological Transformation (SETT), which has invested €24.9 million in the company. The joint investment will be routed through DNEG’s ReDefine Originals, an animation studio and creative incubator, with both DNEG and SETT becoming shareholders in Anima Kitchent.
Founded in 2017 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Anima Kitchent has expanded rapidly under CEO Angel Molinero and operations manager Ariana Villalobos. The studio grew from a dozen employees to about 170 staff, driven by preschool series such as “Cleo & Cuquín,” “Lea & Pop” and “Cuquín” for Warner Bros. Discovery. It has also built a major digital presence, using YouTube as a platform to launch and strengthen intellectual property, and now claims more than 67 million subscribers.
The goal of the investment is to help the studio scale further, create 275 new jobs and develop original feature projects with long-term IP value, according to Spain’s Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Function. The SETT funding is part of the second phase of Spain’s Audiovisual Hub plan, a €1.7 billion initiative within the European Union’s recovery and resilience program.
The new structure will allow Anima Kitchent to continue benefiting from the Canary Islands’ substantial tax advantages, including film and TV incentives of 54% to 45% on production spending, with caps of €36 million per feature film and €18 million per TV episode for animation and VFX. The islands also offer a Special Zone regime with a 4% corporate income tax and 7% VAT, far below mainland Spain’s standard rates.
Spain’s Minister for Territorial Policy, Angel Víctor Torres Pérez, said the government wants to diversify the Canary Islands’ economy beyond tourism and trade by strengthening the audiovisual sector. Pablo Hernández, executive president of the Canary Islands’ ZEC, said the studio’s combination of strong intellectual property, production quality and real-time audience data gives it an edge in international markets.
The deal also highlights the rapid rise of the Canary Islands as an animation hub. The region has grown from a single production house in 2018 to more than 30 studios today. Among the companies now operating there are Fortiche, creator of “Arcane”; Atlantis Animation; Tomavision; 3 Doubles Producciones; and Tinglado Films. Other international names, including Finland’s Gigglebug and Surfing Giant, are also establishing a presence in the region.
Hernández said the Anima Kitchent deal, along with earlier investments by Studio 100 Media and Viva Pictures in 3Doubles, shows that the Canary Islands have become a credible and resilient location for global animation production.
