Nation, Kovalee launch French microdrama app Sweetz with $1.1m funding

French AI studio Nation and mobile app publisher Kovalee have launched Sweetz, a mobile app dedicated to microdrama backed by a seed funding round of over €1m (US$1.1m).

Hugo Brisbois

The app moved from a beta launch over the summer into its full iOS release yesterday. The seed round backing brings together a group of established media and audiovisual players, including M6 Group, Briskpace Unlimited, The Originals Group, Duo Productions and AT Prod.

The funding is intended to support Sweetz’s ambition to build a microdrama company with international reach, at a time when the format is expanding rapidly outside China. Citing figures from research firm Omdia, the companies pointed to a projected US$22bn global microdrama services market outside China by 2030, a scale they said is driving a new wave of mobile-first series specialists.

Sweetz joins a growing field of European microdrama apps and platforms launched over the past year, spanning France’s Shorts, Spanish platform Dramyx and UK platform Tattle TV. The category has also drawn newer entrants targeting the production side, such as casting app VertiCast, reflecting broader momentum behind vertical video as a distinct European production sector rather than an import from Asian and US-based platforms.

Sweetz has been positioned as a European entrant into that market, combining local production with distribution ambitions abroad. The app is built around a hybrid model, pairing a consumer-facing app with an internal content pipeline geared towards AI and hybrid series production, drawing on Nation’s background in AI-driven production and Kovalee’s experience in mobile app development and publishing.

Nation describes itself as a French AI studio focused on new production and storytelling technologies and has Oble and Widenn co-founder Hugo Brisbois as part of the team, while Kovalee is a European mobile app publisher that develops and publishes its own titles as well as apps in partnership with outside entrepreneurs and creators.