Vimeo Acquires VHX, Bolstering Subscription VOD Tools
Vimeo has acquired VHX, a startup that provides a platform for over-the-top subscription video channels and transactional VOD, looking to build more ways for creators to make money from online video.
Terms of the deal are not being disclosed. VHX had raised about $10 million from investors including Comcast Ventures and Union Square Ventures. VHX was founded in 2011 by Jamie Wilkinson and Casey Pugh, who are both joining Vimeo with the acquisition.
VHX’s white-label OTT platform has roughly 30,000 active subscribers to 100 SVOD channels, and hosts nearly 10,000 VOD titles for rent or purchase. Together, Vimeo and VHX distribution platforms generated nearly $15 million in sales in 2015, according to Vimeo. Both companies are based in New York.
“Vimeo is home to the world’s leading video creators and the viewers who love them, and we’re excited to add VHX’s team and technology to our streaming marketplace,” Vimeo CEO Kerry Trainor said in announcing the deal. “As the video universe continues to unbundle, Vimeo offers the ideal home for the next generation of premium video channels serving passionate global audiences.”
“Adding our platform to Vimeo’s massive community of creators and consumers means we’ll be able to move faster, and help creators large and small succeed in the over-the-top streaming market,” added VHX CEO Jamie Wilkinson, who will report to Trainor.
Vimeo launched a subscription VOD option last summer, but with the addition of VHX, the company claims it will provide a complete set of SVOD tools for individual creators, niche programmers and media partners. Vimeo now offers creators customer data and video analytics tools, and technology to rapidly launch or migrate SVOD channels in 4K adaptive streaming across mobile, web and TV apps, along with industry-standard digital rights management.
The Vimeo and VHX teams plan to pitch the combined OTT solution to studios, agencies, TV networks in the U.S. and internationally, and VOD subscription services looking for a lower-cost solution. VHX’s 22 employees will all join Vimeo, which has a headcount of just under 200. Initially, VHX will continue to operate under the VHX name but eventually the platform will be incorporated under the Vimeo brand.
Vimeo, founded in 2004, is owned by Barry Diller’s IAC holding company and claims to have 280 million viewers and creators worldwide.
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