Gwangju, South Korea— The 20th ACE Fair was held on 28-31 August 2025 at Kimdaejung Centre, Gwangju, South Korea.
The Indian Delegation led by Vineet Raj Kapoor (Founder SXILL & Chandigarh Design School) had delegates from Media Guru, Mumbai (Subhashish Mazumdar), Powertoons, Hyderabad (Ashish Saxena), MESC India, New Delhi (Roshni Sehgal), Mugafi, Mumbai (Vipul Aggarwal & Tansha Batra), Elle Animation, Bhubhaneshwar (Chandrashekhar Bhuyan & Santosh Reddy), Ssoftoons Entertainment and Media, Kolkata (Hansa & Sourav Mondal), Just VFX, Hyderabad (Sridhar Reddy), Snipix, Hyderabad (Chilamkurthi Vamsi), Start Animation, Hyderabad (Rakesh) and Khaja Vali (TVAGA, Hyderabad) were part of the large delegation from India by Virtualsoft. Other Indian studios were Bhasinsoft Studios, Alliance Studios, Aha, and Crossover Studios.
India made its biggest showing ever at ACE Fair 2025, cementing its status as a rising force in the global animation, VFX, and digital content industries. The Indian delegation, the largest group of overseas exhibitors at the event, signaled a significant shift from being a service provider to a co-production partner.
Beyond the Paradigm,” was the largest in its history, gathering 400 companies and 507 booths from 33 countries and attracting 200 international buyers.
A United Front and a New Era of Collaboration
The delegation was led by Vineet Raj Kapoor, CEO of VirtualSoft. Participants included a diverse mix of leading studios and organizations, such as:
Animation: Greengold, Magiclume, Vawworld, VirtualSoft
VFX: Phantom FX, Little Black Star, JustFX, Infinity FOO
Technology & AI: Media Shippers
Training & Skills: Brillco, SXILL
Distribution: Indywood
Government Sector: Media and Entertainment Skills Council (MESC)
This strong presence highlighted India’s growing ambition in the global market. As Vineet Raj Kapoor noted, this was an “exceptional year” for the delegation, with multiple studios closing deals. He emphasized that co-production is slowly but surely replacing traditional vendor deals, positioning India to become a global leader in animation.
3 Indian Studios signed MOUs at ACE Fair 2025, namely Magiclume Hyderabad, VAWWorld Bhopal, and Indywood Hyderabad.
Delegates Praise Leadership and the Event
The success of the delegation was largely attributed to the leadership of Vineet Raj Kapoor.
Sinseer, a Malyalam actor representing Indywood, commented, “Your management of the delegation was truly outstanding… The support provided was seamless.” Kumar Sambhav of VAWWorld, a first-time attendee, said Kapoor guided him “on every step,” from registration to his flight home. Suhas Bansod of People Films added that Kapoor’s calm and peaceful support was “truly commendable.”
Participants also shared positive feedback about the ACE Fair itself. Roshni Sehgal of MESC called it a “valuable experience” with great networking opportunities. Surya of Greengold praised the organizers for a “well-organized fair,” with special mentions for the networking party and city tour. Kumar Sambhav of VAWWorld found the event “mesmerizing,” highlighting the balance between business and fun. He also noted that the Korean government’s investment in nurturing talent was evident and that the event was very cost-friendly.
Krishna CM, Marketing Head at Magiclume, summed up the key takeaway: “India can go beyond outsourcing and lead global co-productions.” The fair reinforced that with world-class expertise and a growing talent pool, Indian creators are ready to collaborate on a global scale.
The night time was a time of bonding with other Indian Studios and helped them understand each other’s capabilities and possibilities of collaboration.
Vineet Raj Kapoor, Founder SXILL, Chandigarh, and Leader of the Indian Delegation, commented, “I am really happy that we have been able to support the Indian Animation community with their international marketing in South East Asia. I am especially happy that every year we have been able to guide and expose many smaller Studios to learn the approach to get their IPs to foreign markets.”