360-degree media production companies are becoming more and more important as companies reach out for creative ways to market their products, share their creative visions, and even educate their employees. SubVRsive, a team that has worked with MTV and has even earned an Emmy nomination for their collaboration with Showtime, announced that they’ve completed a series A funding round, acquired $4 million, and appointed former Hulu SVP Johannes Larcher as their new CEO.
On the company’s blog post about the funding, they wrote of the potential of VR and AR when it comes to providing the best content for their clients:
If our experience in immersive storytelling has taught us anything, it’s that Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are fundamentally redefining the ways in which brands connect with their audiences. While the sight, sound, and motion of traditional video allow brands to explain their benefits to consumers, the immersive nature of Virtual Reality allows consumers to experience those benefits for themselves – and that experience is captivating. We are convinced that Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality will continue to push the envelope of storytelling and will offer brands more and more effective ways to deepen their engagement with their audiences.
The funding round was the result of investments from a single participant, the WPP, which is one of the world’s leading communications service companies. WPP already has assets in marketing technology consultancy, content management, and others. As stated in their own press release on the new development, investing in SubVRsive continues their strategy to diversify their offerings in technology, data, and content. We chatted with the current SubVRsive CCO, Austin Mace, via email about the funding and the direction of the company from this point forward.
“The additional funding will allow us to accelerate hiring that is needed to keep up with a growing demand from brands and media clients, as well as increase our ability to work on projects that transcend our traditional sweet spot of cinematic VR,” Mace says.
When it comes to WPP, he notes that they bring “terrific experience and relationships with the world’s leading brand marketers” and that the SubVRsive team is looking forward to bringing these newer technologies to WPP’s family of agencies and brand clients. “The outlook for the rest of this year is bright. We plan to grow our team with the best talent in the industry and continue to push the boundaries of storytelling in VR and AR.”
