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VR live streaming startup LIV has raised $1 million, backed by investors including Oculus founder Palmer Luckey, Beat Games CEO Jaroslav Beck, early stage VCs Seedcamp, TechStars and Credo Ventures, VR behemoth VIVE, and mixed reality production specialist Splitverse.
Founded in 2016, LIV says it’s the first of a new age of VR streaming specialists optimising in-game viewing experiences for spectators. LIV has acquired talent and technology as its team has grown, including the creators of three key technologies that now underpin its offering. These acquisitions are: OBS Mixed Reality Filter & Mixtra (the first out-of-engine compositing technology for mixed reality capture), Mixed reality calibration app VIVR, and ChromaFree, the Microsoft Kinect dynamic background removal tool.
With this investment, LIV says it will continue its mission of building “the first truly integrated VR Live streaming and real-time audience interaction platform” for streamers and games developers.
“We think that VR is the final computing platform, and in a world where VR is mainstay we need tools for creators and developers to share their experiences in real-time. In VR, your whole body is your controller, and we had to include that human nuance into the spectator experience. We’ve taken VR from a “must try to believe” experience, to something you can watch on a 2D screen whilst still really understanding the magic of 6 degrees of freedom that VR offers,” said LIV’s CEO and founder AJ Shewki (aka Dr DOOM).
“We have some pioneers within our field on the team and are now backed by the people and companies that created VR as we know it. Together we are playing a pivotal role in shaping the future of the industry. Our kit is being pushed further and further afield, and all our partners, creators, and audience are as excited as us to see what comes next.”
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