VUZ, a social app, has recently raised $20 million in Series B funding. The app enables users to stream and experience immersive realism in extended reality and metaverse digital experiences. Some of the investors in this round of funding include DFDF (Dubai Future District Fund), WIN (Webit Investment Network), SRMG, Elbert Capital, Yasta Partners, Faith Capital, and Panthera Capital.
Additionally, seven current investors took part in the offering. Web3 products have claimed 1 billion screen views from 10 million users since their introduction. 44% came from the Middle East, 32% from the U.S., and 24% from Egypt. VUZ wants 3 billion views by 2023 and to quadruple its user base annually. Immersive creative partnerships power the content on VUZ, where top artists’ videos have been seen over 100 million times around the world.
VUZ, whose headquarters are in Dubai, says that this round, in which it has brought in investors from the US, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, will be very important for the company’s plans to grow internationally.
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Khaled Zaatarah, founder and chief executive officer of VUZ, founded the platform under its previous name, 360VUZ, with the intention of bridging the gap between the real and virtual worlds by providing quality immersive content to an audience all over the globe. Zaatarah said VUZ’s mission is to connect people by giving “genuine, engaging experiences.”.
The platform delivers over 20,000 hours of entertainment, creative, sports, XR, VR, and AR content worldwide. Users may attend live events, concerts, celebrity interviews, and masterclasses using VUZ’s iOS and Android applications. 70% of VUZ’s material is free and monetized by commercials; consumers must pay $4–8 for exclusive content. The company wants to give people access to content through Meta headsets, Qualcomm, immersive avatars, and a web platform.
How will VUZ use the money?
The money will be utilized to improve monthly recurring revenue growth by 10%, invest in content, employ senior hires, launch web3 products and NFT initiatives, and scale asset-light into 8 new foreign markets. VUZ will also expand its Los Angeles office and work with creators in the U.S., Asia, and Europe. The CEO said the company’s future ambitions are 10 times greater than those of the last 6 years. “We’re equipped for sustained scalability and growth at a scale-up stage,” Zaatarah says.
The telecommunications industry is placing its bets on immersive media because they believe it will be one of the most successful use cases for 5G and will shape the future of video streaming. Zaatarah has said that the company’s worldwide development is supported by the collaboration and integration it has achieved with 45 different cellular carriers.
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Even Dan Caruso, the managing director of Caruso Ventures, said that his organization invested in the company because it is ideally positioned to establish a global platform and work with the leading telecom providers worldwide. One of these partners is e&, a UAE-based telecom company that just changed its name. Last week, e & capital, the company’s venture capital arm, announced a $250 million fund.
VUZ is one of e&C’s first MENA investments, having raised over $30 million. The immersive media platform will use telecom operators’ infrastructure to grow into the Middle East and Africa. Kushal Shah, head of VC at e & capital, said VUZ fits his firm’s objective to “collaborate with innovative innovation entrepreneurs” We will continue to invest in the company’s success, collaborating with them to help them expand and allow genuine advancement. In the next four years, his business wants to invest in 20 Series A and B firms in MENA.