Esports VR Broadcasting company SLIVER.tv announced it completed series A round equity funding with $9.8 million raised. To date, the company has received $17.5 million. Danhua Capital, Heuristic Capital Partners, and ZP Capital led the round while addition funding came from DCM, Sierra Ventures, The VR Fund, Samsung Next Fund and Sony Innovation Fund. SLIVER.tv CEO and co-founder Mitch Liu said in a press release that the money would be used to accelerate R&D investments in machine vision, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality.
Danhua Capital managing director Dovey Wan said, “We are very excited to partner with SLIVER.tv. Mitch and his team are fundamentally transforming the live spectator experience for global esports fans with their patented video streaming technology. Together with a new interactive engagement model, 360 esports content, and a novel incentive model for streamers, tournament organizers, and esports fans, we firmly believe they are ready to disrupt the industry with their next-gen multimedia entertainment platform.”
The patented technology that Wan refers to takes 2D PC games, namely Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and League of Legends, and then renders a 360-degree stream for viewers to enjoy on their own headsets. The platform launched last August on Android and iOS, and works on a wider variety of VR devices, including Google Cardboard. SLIVER.tv also holds pending patents regarding the automatic generation of game highlights.
The Cupertino-based startup raised $6.2 million in seed funding last August and launched the beta for its platform on iOS and Android at the same time.
