Huayi Brothers invested in Lytro in the United States and was the first to deploy a global VR unicorn company

this investment is another key layout of Huayi Brothers in the field of VR technology, and it also expands the rich cooperation and innovation prospects for the linkage of VR technology and Huayi Brothers content ecology, and may start a revolutionary change in the entire content industry.

on February 15th, Lytro,Inc (hereinafter referred to as Lytro), a VR (virtual reality) technology company in Silicon Valley of the United States, released news that the company's total financing of US $60 million had been completed by D-round, led by Blue Pool Capital (Blue Pool Capital), and followed by Huayi International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Huayi Brothers. In addition to the investment income, according to the agreed terms of the letter of intent, Huayi Brothers will receive the priority cooperation rights and the most favorable terms of Lytro products in Chinese mainland. This investment is another key layout of Huayi Brothers in the field of VR technology, and it also expands the rich cooperation and innovation prospects for the linkage of VR technology and Huayi Brothers content ecology, which may start a revolutionary change in the entire content industry.

in recent years, the global scientific and technological circles and investment circles have reached a consensus: VR technology will profoundly change the way people work, live, study and play, so VR/AR has become a must for international front-line science and technology investment institutions. However, in the actual combination with the industry, VR technology still faces many barriers, especially the entertainment industry, there is an urgent need for technology to enter the practical application stage, leading to the overall upgrading of entertainment content.

as the only technology company in the world that can use light field technology to capture VR/AR content, Lytro was founded in Silicon Valley in 2006 and is currently the most monopolistic and influential platform enterprise in the field of global light field imaging technology. Lytro is committed to the revolutionary application of light field technology into virtual reality, augmented reality, film and television production, security monitoring, medical imaging and other fields. Lytro is a comprehensive solution that not only provides hardware, but also sells a complete production system, plus server and software support.

Lytro main product Lytro Cinema camera has completely changed the traditional film and television production process with its breakthrough light field (Light Field) imaging technology. After applying the light field camera, the film industry will bid farewell to the green screen technology and instantly realize the functions of background replacement, character extraction and so on. From silver plate, film, color, digital to light field camera, light field camera, Lytro light field imaging technology leads the new future of human imaging technology.

based on the keen insight into the changes of entertainment led by technology, Huayi Brothers has been very concerned about the field of VR in recent years, and took the lead in investing in domestic pioneer companies in the field of VR, and taking a stake in Lytro also expands Huayi Brothers' investment targets overseas. In China, Huayi Brothers has successively invested in Storm Mirror and St. Witt, basically covering the demands of VR technology in the personal application market and large-scale scene applications. This cross-border investment in Lytro pays more attention to the profound impact of its light field imaging technology on the future of the entertainment industry, and its forward-looking layout may grow into a "unicorn" or even a "platform" VR technology company.

while closely grasping the trend of cutting-edge science and technology, Huayi Brothers' investment in VR also focuses on coordination and linkage with its own business. This is also one of the main considerations for Lytro to choose Huayi Brothers as its investor. Take St. Witt, which was previously invested by Huayi Brothers, as an example, it is currently working with Huayi Brothers reality Entertainment to develop a VR experience project combined with Huayi Brothers Film and Television IP to turn light and shadow memory into an immersive play experience. The focus of Huayi Brothers' investment in Lytro is also the possibility of the integration of VR technology and Huayi Brothers entertainment content. Huayi Brothers, as a company famous for its advantages in content, has included movies, TV dramas, online movies, online dramas, comics, animation, games, variety shows, live streaming and other forms in its content reserve, which will create more possibilities for the combination of Lytro applications. Huayi Brothers' previous projects in the United States, such as a joint venture with 18 films from STX and Russell Brothers, director of the "Captain America" series, may be the first to combine art and technology with Lytro.

in addition, according to the letter of intent, Huayi Brothers will get the priority cooperation rights and the most favorable terms of Lytro products in Chinese mainland. Huayi Brothers can rely on its industry resources and relationship network to promote the promotion and application of Lytro products in China, and obtain investment returns at the same time. "in the next five years, China will be the most important market for VR applications and film content in the world, and we hope to better understand and develop this emerging market with trusted partners like Huayi Brothers," said CEO Jason Rosenthal, a Lytro company.

Lytro news shows that other investors participating in this round of financing include Foxconn, Qualcomm, EDBI of Singapore's Economic Development Board and other well-known multinational corporations and investment institutions. Industry analysts believe that the current international giants and domestic Internet companies led by BAT are gradually getting VR tickets through self-construction or investment. Among them, the entertainment industry is also one of the most popular VR application areas, and the rewriting of VR for the entertainment industry is close at hand, so the strategic significance of beach layout may be far beyond the scope of financial returns and business development.

Edit: yvonne