NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Genvid Technologies, Inc. has closed its seed round of funding at $1.5 million. The round was led by Los Angeles-based March Capital Partners, with Chicago’s OCA Ventures participating. Founded by the former technical and business leadership of Square Enix Holdings Co. Ltd. subsidiary Shinra Technologies, Genvid is building cutting-edge tools for developers to use in eSports broadcasts, bringing highly compelling interactivity to popular live-stream services like Twitch.
“We are thrilled to work with March Capital Partners under the leadership of Managing Director Gregory Milken,” said Genvid CEO Jacob Navok. “Our investment partners have a keen understanding of how interactive live streaming will transform media in the future. Genvid is leading an emerging and massive opportunity of developer broadcast solutions, enabling their viewers to engage directly with streams.”
“The interactive technology that Genvid has developed will completely change live streaming,” said March’s Milken. “The Genvid team is uniquely positioned to help game developers given their years of experience working on the cutting edge of game streaming.”
Mr. Milken will join the board of directors with the closing of this round. Additionally, Genvid is announcing that Mike Vorhaus, President of Magid Advisors, is joining its advisory board alongside existing advisors Yoichi Wada, former CEO of Square Enix Holdings, and Jayson Chi, Senior Advisor at McKinsey.
“The game industry has been circling around this segment for years, but Genvid is the first company positioned to bring engagement to the massive market that is non-players of games,” commented Wada.
What is Genvid Technologies?
Founded in March 2016 by a team of game-industry veterans, Genvid Technologies makes any multiplayer game more compelling to watch on popular live-stream services like Twitch. The company’s name, is a fusion of two Latin root words: Gen, meaning “birth,” and Vid, meaning “viewing,” reflecting the company’s mission to power a new era of interactive live-streaming experiences.
Genvid is working with popular eSports and virtual-reality developers to power streaming content surpassing anything seen before. Going forward, casual viewers and hardcore fans alike will be able to enjoy the unique story of each match, following their favorite players and discovering new ones, while players will feel the benefits of increased audience engagement.
Genvid’s Technology Suite
By applying the team’s extensive experience with server-side gaming, Genvid offers three technologies (Broadcast, Engage, Analyze) in one suite that solves the many limitations of current live-stream experiences. Genvid’s Broadcast technology allows for the creation of dynamic camera angles, composed professionally in real-time. Engage allows for real-time and tactile input that is customizable for each viewer. Analyze tracks the pulse of the viewing audience and ensures the highest level of crowd satisfaction.
In June 2016, Genvid began closed demos of its prototype running via Unreal Tournament 2016 Alpha, being made available to developers with the permission of Epic Games, Inc. The demo, using live matches and broadcast to Twitch.tv, allowed viewers to click on the video itself to directly interact with the game that they are watching. Genvid’s technology additionally converts real-time popularity data back into the game’s camera to complete a truly interactive live-streaming experience. Dynamic cameras provide direct input that affects the game-state and clickable interactive video interfaces bring the in-engine spectator experience to live-stream feeds.
Genvid will release its developer SDK in late 2016.
| Company Name |
Genvid Technologies, Inc. |
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| Locations | New York, Montréal | ||
About March Capital Partners
March Capital Partners is a Santa Monica-based venture capital firm with one of the largest global funds in Southern California. Founded by industry veterans with over 50 years of investing experience, March Capital is unique in the Southern California market with its active investments in both early and late-stage companies in mobile, enterprise, infrastructure, gaming and other growth industries. The majority of March Capital’s investments are with Southern California companies, with targeted positions in innovative global organizations. For more information, see http://www.marchcp.com/.
About OCA Ventures
OCA Ventures provides venture capital and strategic guidance to visionary founders of highly scalable early-stage technology and services businesses. OCA seeks to invest in revolutionary ideas and to partner with exceptional entrepreneurs, typically participating in a company’s first round of institutional capital. Over the last decade plus, OCA has invested four funds in over 70 companies nationally.
Media Contacts:
Genvid Technologies, Inc. via info@genvidtech.com
March
Capital Partners via adrianne@dottedlinecomm.com
OCA
Ventures via josh@propllr.com
Genvid Technologies and its components (Broadcast, Engage, Analyze)
are Copyright 2016 Genvid Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Unreal
Tournament is used with permission from Epic Games, Inc.
Epic,
Epic Games, Unreal, Unreal Engine, and Unreal Tournament, are trademarks
or registered trademarks of Epic Games, Inc. in the United States of
America and elsewhere. © 2004-2016, Epic Games, Inc. All rights reserved.
Twitch.tv
is a registered trademark of Twitch Interactive, Inc.
Shinra
Technologies and Square Enix are registered trademarks of Square Enix
Holdings, Co. Ltd.
No affiliation or endorsement has been
made by Twitch Interactive, Inc. or Square Enix Holdings, Co. Ltd.