]]>
Wonder, an AI-native creative studio led by co-founder and CEO Xavier Collins, has raised $3 million in pre-seed funding to power its content production efforts.
Backed by LocalGlobe and Blackbird, Wonder aims to foster emerging talent and produce original content, harnessing the tools provided by generative AI. Funding in this pre-seed round also includes investors such as Mati Staniszewski (co-founder, ElevenLabs), Laura Modiano (Head of startups, OpenAI), Ross Dinerstein (CEO, Campfire Studios), Ammaar Reshi (design lead, Google DeepMind), Mika Salmi (founder, AtomFilms), Andre Haddad (CEO, Turo) and Peter Hepworth (former COO, Activision Blizzard EMEA).
“We’re at an inflection point in history where the power to craft and create visually striking stories is being rapidly democratized through technology,” said Collins, co-founder and CEO of Wonder. “Storytelling should be about creativity, not overcoming financial and logistical barriers. We’re unearthing the next generation of talent and partnering with the traditional industry to unlock new avenues of creativity and empowering them to do more with less.”
“AI is fundamentally changing how film is produced, and Wonder is operating at the forefront of this shift,” said Ziv Reichert, partner at LocalGlobe. “We believe they’re building what a 21st-century studio should look like: capital-light, AI-first, and built to elevate creative talent rather than replace it. Their model empowers an entirely new generation to tell stories—ones that would otherwise never see the light of day.”
“The cost of high-end TV and film production typically ranges from $500,000 to $1 million per minute, and using AI, we can bring that down to $10,000 to $20,000 per minute,” said Justin Hackney, co-founder and chief creative officer at Wonder. “Traditional creative pipelines are too slow, expensive, and gatekept for the pace of AI-native storytelling. Wonder is being built to enable faster production at scale, global collaboration, and fairer ownership for the next generation of creators and entertainment.”
“Blackbird is honored to be partnering with Xavier and Justin as they bring their global film, tech, and AI experience together to form Wonder,” said Sam Wong, partner at Blackbird. “We love partnering from the very beginning and are excited by their human-centered approach to creative output, augmented by AI.”
“Wonder is building a future where technology amplifies human storytelling, giving rise to voices and stories that were previously impossible to tell,” said Mati Stanszewski, co-founder of ElevenLabs. “This is exactly the kind of bold, forward-thinking studio the industry needs, and I’m excited to see them shape the next era of entertainment.”