companies

Viggle AI

Toronto startup behind Viggle, a character-animation tool built on its JST-1 physics model that maps any image onto a motion clip.

Viggle AI was founded in Toronto in 2022 by Hang Chu, a former Google Brain and Uber ATG researcher, around a simple idea: separate a character's identity from its motion so any image can be mapped onto any movement. The result, JST-1, is described by the company as a video-3D foundation model with a physics-aware understanding of how bodies move, rather than a purely pixel-based video generator. The product went viral in 2024 through meme edits — Joaquin Phoenix's Joker dancing at a music festival in place of the original performer was one of the clips that pushed Viggle to millions of users within months of its public launch. Viggle raised a $19 million Series A in August 2024 led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Two Small Fish also participating, to build out the underlying model and expand beyond its meme-generator reputation toward tools for animators and marketers.

Founded

2022

Headquarters

Toronto, Canada

Sector

applications