Vrideo

Vrideo was an early entrant in the virtual reality space, establishing a platform for hosting and sharing 360-degree and 3D immersive videos. Founded by Alex Rosenfeld, who also served as CEO, the company launched its beta version in March 2015, a time when the consumer VR market was still in its infancy. The platform was designed to be universally accessible, supporting all major VR headsets of its time, including Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Samsung Gear VR, and later, PlayStation VR.

The core of Vrideo's business was to provide a YouTube-like experience specifically for VR content. It allowed creators to upload their 360-degree videos, which could then be streamed by users across a wide array of devices. The service was free for users and content creators, featuring functionalities such as browsing trending content, searching for specific videos or channels, and creating playlists. With a growing library and videos garnering hundreds of thousands of views, the platform achieved 700,000 installations, indicating a significant user base in the emerging VR community.

Despite its early traction and broad compatibility, Vrideo operated in a highly competitive market, facing off against well-funded competitors like Jaunt and giants such as Google's YouTube. The company had raised a modest $2 million in funding. However, the operational costs associated with supporting multiple platforms and the challenges of monetization in a nascent market ultimately proved insurmountable. In November 2016, roughly a month after its praised launch on PlayStation VR, Vrideo announced it was shutting down, citing that its funding had been stretched as far as it could go.

Keywords: 360-degree video, virtual reality, video hosting, immersive content, VR platform, streaming service, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR, content creators