A Tampa-based virtual production firm, which saw its big seed round got heavy participation from investors in Orlando earlier this year, has decided to expand here this year.
This will be the fourth studio for Vu Technologies Corp., which plans to open a 32,000-square-foot studio with three on-site stages, the company announced today on its website. The address of the new studio was not disclosed.
The firm's other virtual production studios for the film, video and advertising industries are in Tampa, Las Vegas and Nashville, Tennessee.
Vu's studios feature volumes, fully enclosed spaces where motion capture and real-time compositing take place so virtual environments for TV and film can be produced easily on camera. The technology, used in the popular Star Wars TV show "The Mandalorian," includes large LED walls used to generate virtual backgrounds as a replacement to traditional green screens.
The tech startup recently raised the largest seed investment round in Tampa history, with a historic $17 million seed investment from ADX Labs, Topmark Partners, and Angel investment syndicates from Orlando, Tampa and Texas.
“Together with the technical talent pipeline coming from Full Sail University, University of Central Florida, Valencia College, Orange Technical College, the DAVE School and others, the Orlando market is the perfect location for the next Vu studio and to recruit top-tier talent from Orlando for our virtual studio network” said Vu Studio Director of Workforce Development Anji Corley in a prepared statement.
Vū has invested substantially in R&D, integrating camera tracking and real-time rendering applications to create immersive virtual environments for actors to perform in geographically diverse studios in real time.
“We believe within the next five to 10 years, the idea of shooting on location or with a green screen will be a thing of the past, ” said Jon Davila, Vu president and co-founder, in a prepared statement. "The paradigm shift to shooting in virtual production studios will forever disrupt and improve the way content is made in the film and TV industry."
Waterfall Ventures Investments, managed by Orlando Tech Council Chair Charlie Lewis, brought 30 Orlando-area angel investors into Vu's seed round, contributing $1.7 million. Those investors include former investors in Orlando City Soccer and founders of fintech firm Stax.
"The 30 Orlando angel investors backing Vū’s expansion represent a clear signal that Orlando’s entrepreneurial investment community is getting behind new, innovative companies," said Tim Giuliani, CEO of Orlando Economic Partnership, in a prepared statement. "This expansion will not only attract more work for the region’s already flourishing film industry, but also boost the strength of our innovation ecosystem and further diversify our economy.”
Founded in 2020, Vu's studios have been used by notable clients including Mercedes-Benz, Jeep, World Wrestling Entertainment and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
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