July 1, 2020

Interesting Deals, Stats, & Product Updates

Digestible Media

Film/TV/Video 

  • YouTube increased the price of its live OTT service YouTube Live by 30% to $64.99. (Read more)

Music

  • Spotify rolled out its $12.99/mo “Duo” discount bundle for two users at the same address in the US, India, and 53 other markets. (Read more)
    • Discount plans like the Family and Student plans and this Duo bundle have helped fuel Spotify’s premium subscriber growth over the last three years to 130M. ARPU for subscribers has declined each year due to that and to lower pricing in new markets (€4.72 avg in 2019).
       
  • HIFI, a platform for musicians to better manage royalty collection and analysis, launched publicly and announced MUSIC (the music-focused fund of Matt Pincus and LionTree), Lerer Hippeau, and Flybridge Capital as initial investors. (Read more)

Interactive Media

Gaming

  • Koji, a San Diego-based startup whose platform enables users to make and share interactive selfies, memes, and games over social media, raised $10M from Galaxy InteractiveBitkraft Esports VenturesMTGMark Pincus, and Michael Eisner. (Read more)
     
  • Voicemod, a Spain-based startup providers voice filters to gamers to change their voice in in-game chat, raised $8M in funding from BitKraft Esports Ventures and others. The company has 2.5M MAUs and a team of 55. (Read more)
     
  • MyRemoteApp, the Polish startup behind cloud gaming platform Vortex.gg, raised €2M from Deutsche Telekom. (Read more)
     
  • Relentless Studios, the Amazon-owned studio building a big MMO called Crucible, pulled Crucible back into a closed beta to make improvements after an underwhelming launch. It’s a setback for Amazon’s gaming ambitions. (Read more)
     
  • Tencent is opening a new studio in LA called Lightspeed that is building a game for Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X. (Read more)

AR/VR

  • Google acquired North, the Waterloo-based maker of AR glasses Focals. Focals will discontinue its product line and app. (Read more)
     
  • Niantic, the AR gaming studio behind Pokemon Go and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, is partnering with immersive theatre company Punchdrunk (creators of Sleep No More) for a series of immersive experiences. (Read more)
     
  • Facebook made voice commands available as a beta feature for Oculus Quest users in the US. (Read more)

Communications

  • Discord raised $100M in Series G funding at a roughly $3.5B valuation from Index Ventures and other investors as it pushes beyond gaming to be a broader group conversation hub. (Read more)

Other

  • Willa, a Stockholm-based fintech startup by former Spotify staff that advances freelancers the money owed to them from clients and tech platforms, raised $3M in seed funding from EQT VenturesNordic Makers, and Moonfire Ventures. They are initially focused on social media influencers with an average following of 100,000 people. (Read more)

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