Vreal, a VR livestreaming and social broadcast platform, today announced the closure of a $11.7 million Series A funding round led by Axioma Ventures, along with new investors Intel Capital and AET Fund. Existing participating investors include Upfront Ventures, Vulcan Capital and CRCM Ventures.
Vreal says they’ll be using the funds to further develop and launch their platform, which allows you to livestream VR playsessions to fans while they watch and interact in a social VR environment. Outside of ‘native’ VR broadcasting, Vreal also lets you record and revisit playsessions, set up cameras to broadcast to 2D platforms, and record streams in 360 degrees.
Now with a total of $15 million in funds, Vreal is also bringing two industry veterans to its board of directors; Chris M. Williams, founder and CEO of the new kids’ media company pocket.watch, and Chet Faliszek. Faliszek, who will be representing Axioma Ventures at Vreal, spent 12 years at Valve, and has writing credits on Half-Life 2, Portal, Left 4 Dead series and more, not to mention his instrumental work on SteamVR.
“As VR becomes more accessible, so will the need for compelling VR broadcast content that moves beyond simple 360 video,” said Faliszek. “Viewers will demand the freedom they have in VR games to be in their viewing experiences.”
Vreal is currently working with content creators and networks such as Rooster Teeth, Machinima, and Hyper RPG in effort to further refine the platform so that it appeals to gamers.
“VR is an immersive medium, and Vreal is the only way for viewers to step inside someone else’s VR gameplay and enjoy VR content the way it’s meant to be experienced.” said Todd Hooper, Founder and CEO of Vreal. “Immersive virtual worlds are the future of gaming, and we’re building the highway that will take viewers to curated gameplay experiences, all alongside their friends and favorite gaming personalities.”
Vreal is currently in closed alpha testing. You can sign up to be a future alpha tester here.
