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Client news · 9 February, 2017

Digital investment for VR platform Blend

Damian Collier's latest digital venture Blend Media, an innovative 360° video and Virtual Reality content and creator platform, reveals high profile investors.

The co-founder and CEO of The LADBible Group, the co-founder and former President of Maker Studios and senior management executives from ITN Productions, Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) and Bell Pottinger are amongst the investors backing media entrepreneur Damian Collier’s latest digital venture Blend Media.

A Boom! PR client, Blend Media is an innovative 360° video and Virtual Reality content and creator platform founded by Damian Collier, founder of viral video management consultancy Viral Spiral. Damian is joined in this new venture by co-founder and COO, Chris Helm, a rights management expert and former Finance Director of Sony Music and EMI Music Publishing.

The business has been created as a complete immersive content solution for brands, agencies and publishers seeking to capitalize on the burgeoning new immersive digital media format. Blend Media reduces the time, costs and risk involved in creating or licensing premium quality immersive video. The company has already supplied immersive content for a number of commercial clients including the Orange VR 360 app.

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Through the marketplace business model, Blend Media also provides valuable revenue and networking tools for creators of immersive content around the world.

Blend Media’s Facebook page, operated under the sub-brand 360-Vidz, has already become the world’s largest 360° video page on Facebook globally with over 600,000 followers and is responsible for the management of the world’s most viewed 360° video of all time, a time lapse video of the Northern Lights from Alaska which has been viewed over 35 million times (with a reach of over 120 million people) on Facebook alone.

Damian Collier’s previous venture Viral Spiral was acquired in 2014 by Rightster PLC (now Brave Bison PLC). Collier was responsible for management of the most-viewed viral video of all time, ‘Charlie Bit My Finger’, licensing clips to brands including Sprint and Google and creating consumer products based on the phenomenon. Viral Spiral also supplied content and consultancy to brands and agencies including Coca-Cola, Samsung, Razorfish, Poke, T-Mobile, P&G, and Saatchi & Saatchi.

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“Until now there has been no organized marketplace for brands, agencies, studios and publishers who are looking to license and repurpose existing, premium quality 360° video or Virtual Reality content, or seeking creators who are skilled in the complex production and post-production techniques to create new productions. We’re launching Blend Media at a time when immersive content has moved into the mainstream following its implementation by the key social networks. Having built a cutting-edge tech platform with a range of360°/ VR ad products also in development and the world’s largest network of expert immersive content creators signed up we’re set for an exciting 2017” 

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— Damian Collier, CEO Blend Media.

Blend Media’s investors include:

David Beck, COO, Bell Pottinger

Mark Browning, MD, ITN Productions

Paul Cooper – Partner, Clarity

Ben Donovan, Co-founder and former President, Maker Studios

Alex ‘Solly’ Solomou, Co-Founder and CEO, The LADBible Group

Chris Waters, Commercial Director & Partner, BBH

 

Ben Donovan will also join Blend Media’s strategic advisory board alongside Vinay Solanki, current Head of Channel 4’s Commercial Growth Fund and former Director of Strategic Development at Getty Images.

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