HOLYWATER, a technology company transforming global entertainment with products spanning vertical series, digital books, and AI-powered streaming, announced the closing of a $22 million financing round led by Horizon Capital with strategic participation from U.S. investors Endeavor Catalyst and Wheelhouse. The transaction marks the largest single investment in the microdrama sector outside Asia to date and builds on earlier backing from Fox Entertainment.
The new funding supports the creation of a mobile-first vertical video platform and accelerates expansion of an AI-driven content ecosystem, including AI-enabled comics and anime, while strengthening IP incubation and global distribution. HOLYWATER has been recognized among Europe’s fastest-growing startups by Sifted in 2025, with flagship app My Drama named “Best Streaming Service” People’s Voice at the 2025 Webby Awards and achieving roughly 2x revenue growth in 2025. Fox Entertainment is producing more than 200 original microdramas and vertical series for the platform over the next two years.
“This is the largest investment in the microdrama space to date outside of Asia, and it sends a clear message to the industry: short-form, studio-quality storytelling is here to stay. Vertical series are no longer an experiment or an uncertain niche — they are proving to be a scalable, long-term format and AI-powered IP incubation engine for the next generation of global hits across multiple genres, far beyond microdramas. With the support of our partners, we’re pushing the entertainment industry forward as we redefine how stories are discovered and experienced worldwide,” said Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov, Co-Founders and Co-CEOs of HOLYWATER.
“We are thrilled to partner with Bogdan, Anatolii and the entire HOLYWATER team. Their innovative approach to content production, combined with a disciplined, data-driven model for user acquisition, has enabled the company to scale rapidly while maintaining strong engagement and retention. In a short period of time, HOLYWATER has built a leading position in the emerging short-form content category, delivering approximately 2x annual revenue growth with a high level of capital efficiency. We look forward to supporting the team as they continue to build a durable, category-defining business,” said Vasile Tofan, Senior Partner at Horizon Capital.
“The next generation of entertainment is being built for where and how audiences consume content, and HOLYWATER has created a standout vertical storytelling platform with a clear scalable monetization engine. Wheelhouse has been building our internal AI and creative teams to further explore how these tools can unlock new forms of format development and production across our ecosystem of athletes, entertainers, creators and production companies. We see HOLYWATER as a great fit for our strategy,” said Brent Montgomery, CEO of Wheelhouse.