Dubai: The VC arm of e& (formerly Etisalat Group) and Dubai Future District Fund are among the investors who put up $20 million in VUZ, the social app that offers users Metaverse digital experiences. This was a Series B funding, and was led by international investors that included Caruso Ventures and Vision Ventures VC Fund.
VUZ, earlier known as 360VUZ, provides more than 20,000 hours of immersive content that cover entertainment, sports, and XR, VR, and AR experiences from anywhere in the world. “Our mission is to build a hyper-connected product to teleport, empower, and entertain millions of users globally,” said Khaled Zaatarah, the founder of VUZ. “Our plans for the future are 10X stronger than what we have been building for the past 6 years.
“We have built the base and now we are ready for sustainable scalability and growth at a scale-up stage.”
The funds will be used for VUZ’s expansion, accelerate the growth to 10 per cent month-over-month for its recurring subscription revenue, investing in premium content, and hiring additional senior personnel. There will also be launch of Web3 products and NFT projects to own and trade virtual assets derived from the Metaverse.
An additional eight new markets are in the works. “Telecoms are seeing that immersive media is one of the strongest use cases for 5G and it's the future of video streaming,” the company said in a statement. “Funds will also support VUZ to further scale its Los Angeles office and scale with creators and content in the US, Asia, and Europe.”
The extended reality (XR) immersive platform has recorded one billion screen views and is gunning for 3 billion next year. VUZ provides users and creators with immersive technologies and ‘different authentic views’.
According to Kushal Shah, Head of Venture Capital at e& capital: “We are excited about investing in a tech company like VUZ that supports the creation of virtual content as well as enables futuristic immersive experiences. This is in line with our commitment to collaborate with visionary tech businesses that we believe will contribute to building a better and brighter digital future."
