Jaunt, a company that develops cameras, software and other tools for “cinematic” virtual reality content, has landed $6.8 million in funding from a group of investors that includes Redpoint Ventures, Peter Gotcher, SV Angel, BSkyB, and Sling Media co-founder Blake Krikorian.
Jaunt, a Palo Alto-based company founded in 2013, said its cross-platform viewer renders content for devices such as the Oculus Rift, the virtual reality device that gained a new level of notoriety last month month after Facebook snapped up Oculus VR in a deal valued at $2 billion.
Jaunt’s claim to fame is providing users with an immersive, wrap-around, 360-degree 3D video and audio experience.
“VR as it exists today is mainly about video games. We want to broaden the VR experience to mainstream entertainment,” said Jens Christensen, CEO of Jaunt, in a statement. “Jaunt has built the technology to put virtual reality in the hands of the best content creators in the world to deliver stunning, reach-out-and-touch-it entertainment experiences using VR goggles.”
“Cinematic VR will completely change the way we experience content in the future,” added Krikorian, founder of id8 Holdings, who sold Sling Media to EchoStar in 2007 for $380 million “Jaunt is giving content creators – both large and small – all the tools they need to add another dimension to film and video and create experiences that will dazzle viewers. Cinematic VR represents a new art form and I could not be more excited to be working with the team that is making this incredible leap forward a reality.”
Jaunt’s advisory team includes Babak Parviz, creator of Google Glass; and Brad Wechsler, chairman of IMAX, among others.
