Insider Brief:
- VUZ has announced a $20 million series B funding round led by Caruso Ventures and Vision Ventures VC Fund.
- The funds will be used to fuel VUZ’s expansion plans in growing its core, accelerate the growth of 10% growth month over month in its recurring subscription revenue, investing in top content, hiring additional key senior hires, new social features, launching Web3 products, NFT projects to own and trade virtual assets derived from the metaverse and scaling with asset-light operations into 8 additional new international markets, following its partnership and integration with 45 Telecom Operators globally.
- Khaled Zaatarah, the Founder of VUZ, says VUZ’s mission is to build a hyperconnected product to teleport, empower, and entertain millions of users globally and is very thankful to have some of the strongest international investors as part of its journey to build a global social immersive platform while leading the new technology revolution, accelerating the future of media and trends such as the Metaverse, and XR (AR and VR) while building strong sustainable growth.
PRESS RELEASE — DUBAI, UAE, Oct. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — VUZ, the leading immersive social app, that allows users to stream and experience a new level of immersive realism in XR and Metaverse digital experiences, raises $20 million in series B funding led by international investors including Caruso Ventures, Vision Ventures VC Fund, and strategic investors such as e& capital, investment pillar of e& (formerly known as Etisalat Group), DFDF (Dubai Future District Fund), SRMG, and WIN (Webit Investment Network).
Investors in the round included three strategic funds from Europe including WIN, Elbert Capital, and Yasta Partners. Additional Investors that joined the round are Faith Capital, Panthera Capital, and seven of the existing previous investors followed on. With this round, VUZ is now backed by a mix of investors based in the US and EMEA that will play a major role in supporting VUZ in its international expansion.
VUZ, which was known previously as 360VUZ, bridges the gap between the physical and virtual worlds to offer the biggest premium immersive content library in the world with more than 20,000 hours of immersive content covering entertainment, creators, and sports segments, and XR, VR, and AR experiences from virtually anywhere in the world. VUZ’s vision is bringing people together and connecting the world by providing authentic immersive experiences while removing the constraints of (TTA) Travel, Time, and Access to billions of people around the world.
Khaled Zaatarah, the founder of VUZ, commented: “Our mission is to build a hyperconnected product to teleport, empower, and entertain millions of users globally. We are very thankful to have some of the strongest international investors as part of our journey to build a global social immersive platform while leading the new technology revolution, accelerating the future of media and trends such as the Metaverse, and XR (AR and VR) while building strong sustainable growth.”
The funds will be used to fuel VUZ’s expansion plans in growing its core, accelerate the growth of 10% growth month over month in its recurring subscription revenue, investing in top content, hiring additional key senior hires, new social features, launching Web3 products, NFT projects to own and trade virtual assets derived from the metaverse and scaling with asset-light operations into 8 additional new international markets, following its partnership and integration with 45 Telecom Operators globally. Telecoms are seeing that immersive media is one of the strongest use cases for 5G and it’s the future of video streaming. Funds will also support VUZ to further scale its Los Angeles office and scale with creators and content in the USA, Asia, and Europe.
“Our plans for the future are 10X stronger than what we have been building for the past 6 years. We have built the base and now we are ready for sustainable scalability and growth at a scale-up stage. Special thanks to everyone that believed in us and to every member of our team.” Zaatarah adds.
The extended reality immersive platform VUZ reached over 1 Billion Screen Views and is aiming to reach 3 Billion Screen Views in 2023. VUZ provides users and top creators around the world with the latest immersive technologies, different authentic views, and top immersive experiences. Creators’ immersive content collaborations have been one of the core drivers of VUZ where it has top creators with a total reach of over 100 Million globally.
VUZ, an Endeavor global network company built a lean and scalable business model providing an important revenue mix, driving value as well as growth and has strong plans to scale its platform. Some of the mega plans for VUZ is building on its current IOS and Android social mobile applications are new features such as the video immersive live chatting, social in-app gifting, social commerce for creators, creators monetization and gamification plans, XR virtual technology, launching it’s SDK, scaling on the full ecosystem with META/Oculus and Qualcomm, Immersive Avatars, as well as launching its Web Platform that is expected to reach 2Bn Screen Views per year, and its Smart TV platform.
Dan Caruso, Managing Director of Caruso Ventures, an investor, a 3x decacorn entrepreneur, and an avid supporter of entrepreneurship commented: “We are very thrilled for leading the Series B for VUZ, VUZ is uniquely positioned to continue building a global platform and to partner with top telecom operators globally. We will use our deep scale-up experience to support VUZ achieve its global vision.”
Kushal Shah, Head of Venture Capital, e& capital, said: “We are excited about investing in a tech company like VUZ that supports the creation of virtual content as well as enables futuristic immersive experiences. This is in line with our commitment to collaborate with visionary tech businesses that we believe will contribute to building a better and brighter digital future. We will continue to invest into the company’s success, partnering with them to help them achieve growth and enable meaningful progress that moves this digital world forward.”
VUZ won as well this year as a Finalist in the Webit Founders Games winning over 3,000 scale-up companies globally out of 140+ countries and being selected from a reputable jury such as Tim Draper. The Webit Investment Network will support VUZ in scaling globally through its vast network of partners and investors.
The team and culture have been one of the core drivers to the success of VUZ where more than 90% of the employees are on an ESOP shares equity plan, as a global success story needs a team of owners driving on one goal and a very strong culture.
In addition to the new investors, 360VUZ is backed by investors such as Knollwood Investment Advisory, AlTouq Group, Impact46, Shorooq Partners, KBW Ventures, Media Visions, Hala Ventures, 500Startups, DAI, Al Falaj, Magnus Olsson, Samih Toukan, Jonathan Labin, DTEC Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures, Al Rashid family and other strategic angel investors.
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VUZ, formerly known as 360VUZ
www.VUZ.com is a tech company founded in 2017 and one of the fastest growing web3 and Metaverse innovation platforms in the world. So far, the company has attracted $30M in venture capital. VUZ has reached over 1 billion screen views and has offices in Dubai, Los Angeles, and Riyadh, and counts a team of more than 50 people with specialties in various types of innovation and product development expertise across multiple technology sectors. Won the startup of the year award and won as a finalist in the Webit Founders Games out of 3,500 tech scaleup tech companies including Time Draper as a jury member.
e& capital, from e&
e& capital is the investment pillar of e& that invests in the ideas and people that will build a better and brighter digital future. It supports visionary tech businesses by taking a stake in the company’s success, helping them grow and enabling meaningful progress that moves this world forward. e& capital invests in the startups that dare to disrupt and challenge the way things are, because they believe in something better. It collaborates with bold entrepreneurs to turn their big ideas into the leading businesses of tomorrow.
In light of limitless possibilities, e& capital invests in businesses that have proven the value of their services in specific market(s) and helps them achieve scale that also benefits consumers and the whole ecosystem.
To learn more about e& capital, please visit https://eand.com/en/capital.jsp.
Photo — https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1920453/Khaled_Zaatarah_CEO_VUZ.jpg
SOURCE VUZ
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