Jaunt, the company who has blazed an early trail in the capture and distribution of cinematic 360 videos, has announced yet another injection of funds, this a $65M round lead by entertainment giant Disney.
The VR industry and all it’s related sub-industries are experiencing a huge renaissance in investments. The most public success, at least in terms of funding, seems to be the immersive content industry, that is 360 degree movies and TV designed to be viewed on the new generation of virtual reality hardware.
Jaunt has been at the forefront of that funding surge, its last funding round netting them $27.8M, back in August last year. Jaunt have now announced that they’re to receive a further, sizeable injection of capital with a new round of investment lead by entertainment, animation and movie giant Disney – this time to the tune of a cool $65M. This latest round of investment brings Jaunt’s total raised funds to around $100M.
Others joining Disney in this series C round alongside the Walt Disney Company are Evolution Media Partners – a partnership of CAA-backed Evolution Media Capital, TPG Growth and Participant Media; and China-based China Media Capital (CMC). The new investors will, Jaunt’s words “…greatly expand Jaunt’s global reach, providing significant resources and relationships to help make VR the next mainstream content medium”.
“Brands, artists, and creatives are looking to reach and interact with their audiences in new innovative ways, and Jaunt’s expertise provides a groundbreaking medium for exploring these new avenues,” said Rick Hess, founder and Co-Managing Partner of Evolution Media Capital. “We look forward to working with Jaunt as they continue to pioneer in this space, giving them access to our wide-reaching network, and expanding on their distribution potential.”
Jaunt have been fairly prolific with their release of their own 360 video content, across multiple VR platforms. Big name release such as a Paul MacCartney Live and Let Die performance and more recently powered ABC News’ VR initiative.
The company have also been at the forefront of technologies surrounding 360 video capture, most notably with several iterations of camera hardware capable of capturing high resolution stereoscopic content. They recently announced their latest camera project, NEO.
“We have been closely monitoring the evolution of video technology on the global horizon, and are excited about the potential for VR. It is having implications in areas such as film, television, games, sports, mobile, as well as other entertainment content and experiences where CMC has a profound connection and substantial engagement,” said Ruigang Li, Chairman of China Media Capital. “Jaunt will be an important step in CMC’s foray into this global entertainment technology revolution.”
