{"id":103829,"date":"2025-05-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/ifc-backs-uaes-vuz-as-it-scales-immersive-media\/"},"modified":"2025-05-20T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T00:00:00","slug":"ifc-backs-uaes-vuz-as-it-scales-immersive-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/20\/ifc-backs-uaes-vuz-as-it-scales-immersive-media\/","title":{"rendered":"IFC backs UAE\u2019s VUZ as it scales immersive media"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1.15;orphans:2;widows:2;text-align:left\"> <strong>IFC <\/strong><strong>leads USD 12 mn pre-Series C round in media startup<\/strong><strong> VUZ: <\/strong>The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, led a USD 12 mn pre-Series C funding round in UAE-based immersive media platform <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/vuz.com\/news\" style=\"\" rel=\"noopener\">VUZ<\/a>, according to a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zawya.com\/en\/press-release\/companies-news\/global-investment-giant-ifc-world-bank-invests-in-vuz-12mln-pre-series-c-the-worlds-leading-immersive-media-company-pbz2u6pb\" style=\"\" rel=\"noopener\">press<\/a><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zawya.com\/en\/press-release\/companies-news\/global-investment-giant-ifc-world-bank-invests-in-vuz-12mln-pre-series-c-the-worlds-leading-immersive-media-company-pbz2u6pb\" style=\"\" rel=\"noopener\">release<\/a>. The round also saw participation from <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aljaziracapital.com.sa\/en\/\" style=\"\" rel=\"noopener\">Al Jazira Capital<\/a>, CrossWork VC\u2019s <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.successfund.com\/home\" style=\"\" rel=\"noopener\">Success Fund<\/a>, and several Saudi family offices.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1.15;orphans:2;widows:2;text-align:left\"><strong style=\"background-color: transparent;\">Looking forward: <\/strong><span style=\"background-color: transparent;\">VUZ, which offers 360\u00b0 and immersive video content, plans to use the funds to expand its presence in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and scale operations in Africa, Asia, and the US.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1.15;orphans:2;widows:2;text-align:left\"><strong>VUZ raking in the views: <\/strong>The platform now has over 15 mn users and 3 bn screen views, with recent traction in markets like Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and Indonesia, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2025\/05\/18\/vuz-gets-12m-to-scale-immersive-video-experiences-across-emerging-markets-and-the-u-s\/\" style=\"\" rel=\"noopener\">TechCrunch<\/a> reports. VUZ says it reached EBITDA profitability in 2024 and is targeting 5 bn lifetime views by 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The IFC\u2019s investment marks a rare foray into consumer tech, signaling growing confidence in immersive media\u2019s potential in emerging markets<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":103830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_primary_brand":0,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1548],"tags":[7,1409,78,147,96],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-103829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-startup-watch","tag-enterpriseam-uae","tag-media","tag-startup-watch","tag-startups","tag-world-bank","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"0d94b246-70c6-4231-953d-8b6162609093","order":"11","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"1","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2024\/11\/998.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"IFC backs UAE\u2019s VUZ as it scales immersive media","related_issue":[103809],"teaser":"The IFC\u2019s investment marks a rare foray into consumer tech, signaling growing confidence in immersive media\u2019s potential in emerging markets","voice_url":"https:\/\/s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/ent.news\/audio\/2025\/5\/.09cad73f-fe75-4a0c-bd93-dfea64defc15.mp3"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.1 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - 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