YBVR News

YBVR are excited to announce that we have been selected as the runners-up for the ‘Best Startup Tech Company’ at the SportsPro OTT Awards. Our CEO and co-founder, Héctor Prieto, was in Madrid to accept the award. Congratulations to the YBVR team for all their hard work, which resulted in this achievement! Thank you to SportsPro Media for hosting a fantastic awards ceremony.

YBVR accelerates deployment of Sports Metaverse with additional funding from TELUS Ventures SAN JOSE, Calif. – July, 2022 – YBVR, the global leader on Immersive Live Sports[1] streaming, announced additional funding from Telus Ventures, to advance the introduction of fully immersive Sports Metaverse services to Canada. The investment provides a boost to scale and deploy the technology across Canada, creating a major milestone for the company. TELUS Ventures’ investment comes to YBVR on top of previous investments from Verizon and Telefonica,[3] reinforcing YBVR’s research and development across 5G/MEC and low latency video technology. “YBVR is looking forward to partnering with TELUS for the next-generation of Live Sports streaming, bringing the tech that will make the Metaverse of Sports a marketplace for fans to enjoy and for the industry to monetize the value created around the sport,” said Hector Prieto, Cofounder and CEO of YBVR. “With TELUS’ 5G/MEC capabilities, we will ensure fans are closer to live sports emotions, whether remote or in-venue, providing immersive experiences with sub-second latencies.” In Canada, YBVR will deploy the next-generation VR technology for streaming live immersive sports and music events with unparalleled quality across devices that is yet to be experienced. “We are excited to be working with YBVR on growing the role of virtual reality experiences in live entertainment and leveraging our world-leading network to connect audiences with interactive and accessible content from around the globe,” said Mario Mele, Vice-president, TELUS Ventures. “At TELUS Ventures we value the role technology plays in our day-to-day lives and are looking forward to working further with this innovative Silicon Valley based startup.” About YBVR YBVR is re-defining the way fans experience live sports. Fans can now experience the magic of ‘being there’ from anywhere. YBVR tech enables a new immersive and interactive dialogue with sport fans, especially the new generations, engaging from home and in-venue. YBVR cloud-based tech empowers sport and music event organizers/right-holders with new assets for engagement and monetization. Fans can decide when, how, what and with whom to enjoy live streaming with premium viewing experiences, in real-time, and across devices. YBVR’s technology provides high-quality 360-degree live streams in 8K with patented Field-of-View optimization that consumes up to 80 per cent less bandwidth. YBVR headquarters are in California, with commercial presence in six markets. YBVR is the leader in immersive sports tech, already trusted by Wimbledon, Australian Open, Real Madrid, Fan Controlled Football, Euroleague Basketball and a number of other relevant players in the sports industry as well as Verizon, TELUS, Singtel and Telefonica. YBVR is embarking on their Series A raise to continue their leadership position in the market and capture the massive Sports Metaverse opportunity while building additional partnerships with major players. About TELUS Ventures As the strategic investment arm of TELUS Corporation (TSX: T, NYSE: TU), TELUS Ventures is one of Canada’s most active corporate venture capital funds. TELUS Ventures invests globally in companies from Seed to Pre-IPO with a focus on innovative technologies such as AgTech, HealthTech, Connected Consumer, IoT, AI, and Security to actively drive new solutions across the TELUS ecosystem. Led by a team of experienced operators, investors and executives, the Ventures team is passionate about creating positive social impact through financial tools and has invested in more than 100 companies since inception. For more information please visit ventures.telus.com.

XR video platform to accelerate deployment of 360-degree immersive video streaming with 5G and edge compute capabilities SAN JOSE, Calif. – February 17, 2021 – YBVR, a next-generation XR video distribution platform, today announced a $1.5 million Pre-Series A funding round with participation from Verizon Ventures, Telefonica’s Wayra and Tech Coast Angels. The funding will be used to advance the company’s technology, build its team and further key partnerships. With 360-degree streaming, YBVR’s video platform significantly enhances the virtual viewing experience. The investment marks a significant inflection point for the company, as it will be able to live stream 8K ultra-high-definition video with next-generation technologies for a premium experience across devices with a sub-second latency. “We are grateful to our investors for boosting YBVR’s growth and scale,” said Hector Prieto, Co-founder and CEO of YBVR. “We are committed to our customers and partners, with a focus on monetizing experiential immersive sports and music events to create transformative value and sustainability in society.” Currently used to broadcast events such as Australian Open 2021 in Melbourne, Fan Controlled Football Season 2021 in Atlanta, and Euroleague Basketball F4 in Cologne, Germany, YBVR provides a fully immersive viewing experience for sports fans and concert goers across the world using any connected device. Ultra-low latency allows for viewers to simultaneously select from various camera angles for a personalized spectator experience. YBVR is able to provide instantaneous streaming through deployment on a previously announced AWS Wavelength with Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network. Mobile edge compute provides the bandwidth needed for wireless data transfer from 360-degree cameras to consumer devices, in real time. “YBVR’s immersive streaming platform offers an unparalleled experience to viewers who cannot be present in-person, allowing anyone to access a game or concert in a very real way,” said Kristina Serafim, Managing Director at Verizon Ventures. “Verizon Ventures is excited to help support YBVR’s growth. With 5G and mobile edge compute, immersive streaming has the potential to transform the sports and entertainment industries.” “New video formats such 8K, VR and 360-degree video are becoming a reality. Telefonica wants to be at the forefront of such technology, which means not only developing new services and video content but also being prepared to invest in startups such as YBVR, with whom we have already produced the first 360-degree immersive musical experience with edge computing technology,” said Paloma Castellano, Managing Director of Wayra in Madrid. During 2021, YBVR will stream more than 300 hours of live international bowling content in partnership with the International Bowling Federation (IBF), allowing millions of fans to actively participate in multiple major bowling events throughout the year, regardless of COVID-related distance and mobility restrictions. About YBVR YBVR is re-defining the way fans experience live sports and engage at home, in mobility and in stadium. Even without being in-venue, fans now can experience the magic of ‘being there’. YBVR tech enables a new immersive & interactive dialogue with sport fans, especially the new generations. YBVR cloud-based tech empowers sport and music event organizers and right holders with new assets for monetization. Fans can decide when, how, what and with whom to enjoy live streams with premium viewing experience on mobile and other XR devices in real-time. Multi-camera viewing, zero-buffering camera changes, immersive replay and co-viewing are just a few features fans will never want to miss again. YBVR headquarters are in California with development team in Madrid and commercial presence in Japan and Australia. About Verizon Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) was formed on June 30, 2000 and is one of the world’s leading providers of technology, communications, information and entertainment products and services. Headquartered in New York City and with a presence around the world, Verizon generated revenues of $128.3 billion in 2020. The company offers data, video and voice services and solutions on its award-winning networks and platforms, delivering on customers’ demand for mobility, reliable network connectivity, security and control. About Wayra (Telefonica) Wayra is the most global, technological and connected open innovation hub in the world. Wayra is present in 7 innovation hubs in Europe and Latin America with a clear objective: to help startups grow on a global scale. Wayra has a portfolio of more than 400 startups and more than 100 are already working to provide disruptive solutions to Telefónica and its global network of 350 million customers. About TCA Tech Coast Angels (TCA) is one of the largest angel investor groups in the U.S, with over 450 active members, with the Los Angeles network (TCA:LA) boasting over 100 members. Tech Coast Angels actively seeks great startups to fund and for members to join our prolific network.

Businesses and developers can build and deploy applications with AWS Wavelength Companies as YBVR are already testing their edge solutions in AWS Wavelength zones at the edge of Verizon’s 5G network in multiple locations. Businesses and developers can build and deploy applications with AWS Wavelength at Verizon’s 5G Edge in three new locations: Atlanta, New York and Washington, DC. Verizon and AWS launched the mobile edge computing (MEC) platform last month in Boston and the Bay Area and plan to add five more cities by year end. Mobile edge computing moves the data and processing done by the applications and services we use closer to the end user at the edge of the network. This shortens the roundtrip data needs to travel, reducing lag time, or latency. By moving AWS compute and storage services to the edge of Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network, innovators can develop applications with ultra-low latencies that will support next-generation use cases ranging from self-driving cars to autonomous industrial equipment. Customers are already testing their edge solutions in AWS Wavelength zones at the edge of Verizon’s 5G network in multiple locations. YBVR is building a next-generation VR video platform and is testing how they can utilize 5G and Wavelength to stream live 8K Ultra HD (UHD) video to sports fans and concertgoers, allowing simultaneous users to choose various camera views with ultra-low latency. “Leveraging the powerful combination of Verizon 5G and AWS Wavelength will enable us to put the ‘fan in control’,” said Sebastian Amengual, YBVR co-founder and Chief Technology Officer. “With 5G and MEC, fans should be able to enjoy 8K live streams on mobile and XR devices in real-time and have their own, personalized watching experience which was not feasible before.” Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network will enable throughput at least 10 times faster than 4G; deliver ultra-low latency and offer very high bandwidth. Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband is expected to eventually enable 100 times larger data volumes than 4G; and the ability to connect more than a million devices per kilometer. “Watching businesses build transformational applications on the world’s first 5G mobile edge computing platform with AWS Wavelength shows how our 5G Ultra Wideband network matters to customers TODAY and is already impacting how businesses operate and consumers live, work and play,” said Tami Erwin, CEO of Verizon Business. “When it comes to innovating on 5G and MEC, we’re only scratching the surface.” Learn more information aboutVerizon 5G Edge andVerizon’s 5G technology. For more information for developers, visit here.

SEGITTUR has selected Yerba Buena VR (YBVR) to deploy a VR tourism experience over 5G, included in the 5G-EVE project. SEGITTUR (Sociedad Estatal para la Gestión de la Innovación y las Tecnologías Turísticas, S.A.) attached to the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism and reporting to the National Department of Tourism, is responsible for promoting innovation (R+D+i) in the Spanish tourism industry, in both the public (new models and channels for the promotion, management and creation of smart destinations and so on) and private sector (support for entrepreneurs, new, sustainable and more competitive business models, export of Spanish technology). 5G EVE is the European 5G validation platform for extensive trials. It is one of three 5G PPP infrastructure projects started on 1st July 2018. The goal is to implement and test advanced 5G infrastructures in Europe. YBVR is developing with SEGITTUR two use cases related with tourism, video VR and 5G. “Immersive tourism” is the first use case, defined to give an immersive experience of a real event through video VR. YBVR technology is used to capture and replay the event and, using streaming over 5G, broadcast the experience to different locations, on live or on demand models. Small spaces, non-accessible places, far-away events… can be captured by VR video to create an immersive experience. Handicap people, potential tourists or new experiences seekers can be the preferred audience for the immersive tourism. “Virtual tickets” is the second use case to be defined. Limited capacity of venues cannot be more a limitation to sell tickets and get more audience. VR video streaming can give a first-row ticket without any numbering limitation. A congress subscription, a basketball seat, a festival entrance, a traditional celebration… could be suitable to become part of this experience, selling virtual tickets for funs from other places or time-restricted followers. SEGITTUR and YBVR collaboration includes a batch of 5G testing trial, metering how 5G technology can improve the feasibility and performance of this use cases. Finally, all these concepts and technologies will be placed in the field on January 2020 into FITUR, the first appointment of the year for the world’s tourism professionals and the leading trade fair for inbound and outbound markets in Latin America.

YBVR has been appointed to receive NEOTEC 2018 funds by CDTI (Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial). CDTI is the Spanish Government office focused on promoting innovation and technological development for enterprises in Spain, depending on Science, Innovation, and Universities Ministry. NEOTEC is a CDTI program with the goal of supporting and empowering companies based on technology, for the development of products or services that require the use of technologies or knowledge developed from the research activity. With € 25 million funding, projects selected can receive up to € 250.000 to support OPEX and amortizations in one or two years. YBVR Europe S.L., based in Madrid, presented the project “360 video optimization for streaming with dynamic FOV adaptation” and was selected, with other 93 companies, to receive funding supported by the NEOTEC program. A detailed description of the project, the marketplace analysis, and future forecast, and the state of the art in this technology was presented to NEOTEC, joining the 5-years business plan with commercial and financial analysis and planning. NEOTEC has a hard selection process and YBVR is very proud to be included in this group of exclusive innovators. Most of these funds will be focused on research and software development to develop and deploy VR video streaming products and solutions for live and on-demand content, to build really immersive experiences based or video and virtual reality. Actually, YBVR projects deployed along this year have confirmed immersive video possibilities in live sports broadcasting over the internet for entertainment, such as Australian Open, last January, or Mutua Madrid Open, last May, with close to 900 hours of viewing time. We appreciate to CDTI and the Spanish Science, Innovation, and Universities Ministry for this appointment and support. We are committed to the evolution of immersive video experiences over the internet with virtual reality, a new way of entertainment, learning, leisure, and news reporting. Subsidized by the CDTI and financed by the Spain National Budget in charge of the application 27.12.467C.74908.