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VUZ receives $ 12 million for its immersive video experiences in emerging countries and the USA

VUZ receives $ 12 million for its immersive video experiences in emerging countries and the USA

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Vuz, a startup that is known to offer immersive video experiences of red carpets and football stadiums, has collected $ 12 million because it doubles its presence in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and accelerates the expansion in Africa, Asia and the United States.

The financing round led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) before Serie C also took part in several existing investors and several top-class Saudi family offices from Al Jazira Capital, Crossway VCS Success Fund.

The investment of IFC is particularly remarkable. The member of the World Bank Group, which is more known for investing in financial infrastructure and logistics in all aspiring markets, rarely relies on consumer technicians and in particular the so -called “immersive internet”.

“They concentrate on emerging countries and saw us as a company that focuses on scaling worldwide and also on these markets. Our work in the creator and the content of the contents has very excited, and based on our progress and growth, there is so much potential to build on it,” said the founder and CEO Khaled Zaatarah in an interview with TechCrunch.

Vuz, formerly 360 VUZ, does not only compete on site. It can be done against global giants like YouTube, Tiktok, Twitch and Instagram.

But Vuz believes that it has a differentiated offer: Immersive 360-degree content that users bring “to experience” whether this are the Grammys in LA, a La Liga match in Spain or a fashion show in Dubai. Users can consume content via mobile apps, the web, VR headsets such as Apple Vision Pro and Oculus and Smart TVs.

The company, which increased a series B of the B 20 million US dollars in 2022, has signed exclusive, immersive streaming deals with La Liga and the Professional Fighters League (PFL) and works with over 100 content manufacturers, the combined audience of which reach 100 million tops.

Streaming becomes local, but still global

Vuz's expansion boost comes at a time when global streaming growth in mature markets hits a plateau. YouTube and Tiktok dominate mobile video consumption in the USA, while Netflix and Disney+ fight against emigration and focus on profitability.

In emerging countries such as Egypt, Nigeria, Indonesia and Kenya, however, user growth still accelerates, especially among younger, mobile audience with an appetite for video and live content.

Zaatarah says Vuz is ready to satisfy this demand. The platform exceeded 15 million users worldwide, compared to 10 million in 2022, and is now logging almost 3 billion screen views of 1 billion at that time (the last time we covered the startup). The user base extends over the Middle East, the USA, Asia and Africa.

In order to accelerate its US push, the company shifts from organic growth to paid marketing in order to convert the viewers of events such as Oscars and music premieres into long-term users. In Africa and Asia, Vuz is investing in local partnerships, especially with telecommunications operators. It has over 40 such partnerships worldwide.

The Vuz Monetarization model has developed since its earlier days when the platform offered about 70% of its content for free and achieved revenue about advertisements. This ratio has now shifted to 60% free and 40% premium content, which is accessible via an annual subscription or a bundled telecommunications offer.

The company has doubled sales in the past two years and recorded an increase in gross profit by 80% last year. While it was leaning to share precise figures, Zaatarah said that the company reached EBITDA RENTABILTION in 2024.

This is partly thanks to a surviving content model: instead of using large production crews, and compensating for freelance reporters and creators, often with proprietary cameras, to shoot and upload content. Creators often have the cost of the equipment that is deducted from their future income.

In addition, the startup supports the creators through its “Vuz Studio”, an internal team that quickly process the immersion content and package. According to Zaatarah, this saves the hours of processing time. It also offers maker -Live trade functions and enables influencers, especially female creators, beauty products or fashion items directly during live streams.

In order to be successful, VUZ must convince users that immersing content is not just a gimmick and the creators convince that the monetization of VUZ is better than TikTok or YouTube. In the Middle East and in parts of Africa, where the creator economy is still early and the sales partners are important, this can be possible.

However, competition is more difficult in the USA and other developed markets.

Nevertheless, Zaatarah believes that Vuz, which will be aimed at over 5 billion by 2026, can send a niche by going where others do not.

“YouTube and Netflix are great, but they don't build for creators in Nairobi or Riad,” he said. “We build a product, network and monetization model, the hyper-local is-with the global scaling of the infrastructure.”

This scale is focused on: the company has now expanded offices in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan and the USA, the active teams in India and Indonesia. Vuz already lives in Egypt, Kenya and Nigeria in Africa and says that it will start in South Africa later this year.

“Vuz 'Tech Edge and Global Reach match our mandate to support scalable platforms that enable the creators,” said Farid Fezoua, IFC Global Director for disruptive technologies, services and medium.

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