According to a September 9, 2025 announcement in the Hollywood Reporter, Harbourview Equity Partners, Polarity and The Steward Family have invested $30 million in Lion Forge Entertainment, one of North America’s “a small number of large black-owned entertainment studios.” It appears on both networks and has recently been renewed for the second season.
Lion Forge Animation was founded in 2019 by David Steward II, son of technology billionaire David Steward. It was rebranded in 2023 as Lion Forge Entertainment. Lion Forge aims to create more stories with authentic, diverse voices with animations of all ages and live action content. News of a $30 million investment in the Harbourview-led company, released two years after Bloomberg first reported, reported that Lion Forge aimed at raising $50 million to boost its efforts to create racially diverse film and television content.
In July 2023, Lion Forge and Nickelodeon Animation will be taking place in Nickalive! According to the website, “we announced a multi-year first look agreement for children and family IPs beyond animated series, features, short content and digital content. With this agreement, Lion Forge has allowed “to co-acquire certain projects the company brings to Nickelodeon and act as animation studios for certain Nickelodeon projects.”
So far, the Lion Forge and Nickelodeon deal has led to multiple in-development projects including Bone Driven, a story based on the first Black NASCAR driver, Wendel Scott, Iron Dragon, and the Korean Motorapes Studios, Lion Forg, and the Chikachika Boom Boom Boom Series series partnership and family band partnership. Marley’s picture book with the same title. This will be co-produced by Polygram Entertainment and Tuff Gong Collective. Additionally, the studio partnered with Penguin Young Leader, a division of Penguin Random House, to adapt the children’s books to the series, and recently collaborated with Game of Thrones creator George RR Martin to develop novel-based adult animation features.
Photo Credit: Lion Forge Entertainment
Following Harbourview’s investment, the Polarity and the Steward family retain the majority ownership of the studio.
“We believe that content has an extraordinary power that impacts the world,” says Sherrese Clarke, CEO of Harbourview. “This is a unique moment in the space of children and families, and Lion Forge seizes the opportunity to tell engaging stories and lean towards the ability to grow global franchises on a large scale. We live and create culturally authentic and socially relevant content.”
Harbourview was founded in 2021 by Sheresse Clarke, former CEO of Tempo Music, and was supported by Apollo Global Management. News of the equity company’s investments arrive three months after leading a $85 million investment in Paris-based children- and family-focused entertainment company Animaj. This “gets and measures high potential IP by automating animation pipelines through AI using data-driven insights.” And the Animaj transaction comes a week after Harbourview secured $500 million in debt funding through private securitization from private equity giant KKR.
Harbourview’s investment in Lion Forge promotes the company’s goal of investing in high-end production for underrated audiences due to the vast spread of media.
“Sherese is a pioneering investor and leads a cultural driving company. Her knowledge and track record is extremely addictive as we continue to expand our company and our fortune,” Steward said. “This is a valid moment for our young company. The synergy between Harborview’s wise investment strategies and Lion Forge’s franchise building blueprint allows us to optimize opportunities with entertainment, culture and content connections and grow into leaders who define categories from strength status.”
“We are pleased to announce that Stephanie Sperber, president and chief creative officer of Lion Forge, said: “We work with incredible creators and exceptional IPs, and with the support of Harbourview, we can develop and invest in expanding our library.
Source: Lion Forge Entertainment, The Hollywood Reporter, Music Business Worldwide
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