ViVu raises $3 million

Startup gets cash injection for its video conferencing platform

ViVu, an online video conferencing platform, has raised $3 million in funding.  The Series A round was led by Inventus Capital Partners, with participation from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Quest Ventures and Bill Carrico, a serial entrepreneur.  The startup said it plans to use the financing to bring its video service to market, which includes business development and product marketing.  

The Sunnyvale, Ca.-based startup offers a video conferencing service which lives completely in the cloud.  It refers to its own product as interactive Video-as-a-Service (iVaaS), living completely in the browser.  So users never have to download or install any sort of software to get some live conferencing going.  It works across Mac and PC and has the ability to function on video-capable smartphones, if developers choose to make use of its API's.  

The difference between ViVu and a video conferencing application like Skype, iChat or Google, is that while ViVu offers simple one-to-one conversations or small video conference calls, the company said it can also get thousands of participants viewing and collaborating video together.  ViVu was recently used at the AlwaysOn Stanford Summit and said it brought in an additional 10,000 virtual attendees from 80 different countries.  Users from across the world used ViVu to engage in real-time conversations with each other.

Once a large event like this is over, ViVu offers analytics and access to recorded event footage.

How is ViVu going to make money?  Well, the service isn't exactly free.  It offers a 30-day free trial and once that is up, users can get started with $49/month subscription plan.  

Co-founder and CEO of ViVu, Sudha Valluru said in a statement, "Our vision for interactively connecting people via video, with an experience that`s equal to being there, is becoming a fast reality.  Particularly with the realities of today`s economy and tight travel budgets, ViVu has proven to be a viable alternative to face-to-face interaction."