Giroptic builds an egg-shaped 360-degree action camera that uses three lenses to capture the full environment for virtual-reality headsets. The device stitches video in real time on the camera, and the company also offers an in-house stitching solution for post-production and real-time workflows. Giroptic's team spent years working on 360 imagery for real estate and forensic use cases and is now pursuing a prosumer, GoPro-style market. The company ran a $1.4 million Kickstarter campaign and has since raised $4.5 million to scale production and distribution. It is taking pre-orders at $499 and plans to move into retail so its cameras are available alongside consumer VR headsets. If virtual-reality video becomes mainstream, Giroptic aims to be positioned to sell at scale to mainstream consumers. Giroptic produces an egg-shaped 360-degree camera that records 1080p-equivalent panoramic video, performs in-device stitching and supports real-time streaming. The device uses three 185-degree fish-eye lenses to capture a 150-degree vertical field and includes GPS, Wi‑Fi, a gyroscope and three microphones. Giroptic has made the camera waterproof to IPX8 standards, offers a lightbulb mounting for continuous power and home-streaming, and sells an accessory lens goggle for underwater use. The company also provides a 360-degree player for Macs, PCs, smartphones and tablets, and the camera can record single-lens footage and still photos with smartphone control. The team has six years of experience developing 360 imagery for real estate and forensic use-cases and is led by CEO Richard Ollier. Giroptic ran a Kickstarter campaign that raised more than $610,000 to fund production and product improvements; early-bird pledges sold out and the current lowest pledge is $329, with the team aiming to ship to backers in November.

Total raised

$5M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Dec 2015