VHX was a

digital distribution Digital distribution, also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution, among others, is the delivery or distribution of digital media content such as audio, video, e-books, video games, and other s ...

platform targeting independent filmmakers. The platform allows artists to sell content directly from their own website, providing design,

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

integration,

search engine optimization Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to a website or a web page from search engines. SEO targets unpaid traffic (known as "natural" or " organic" results) rather than dire ...

, and analytics tools. In May 2016, VHX was acquired by

Vimeo Vimeo, Inc. () is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software a ...

History

VHX was founded in 2011 by

Jamie Wilkinson Jamie Wilkinson is an internet culture researcher and software engineer. Wilkinson started Know Your Meme, a database of viral internet memes whilst working at Rocketboom in New York City. Wilkinson also co-founded VHX, a digital distribution p ...

and Casey Pugh as a video sharing community called VHX.tv to discover and watch videos from around the web. After helping

Aziz Ansari Aziz Ismail Ansari (; born February 23, 1983) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He is known for his role as Tom Haverford on the NBC series '' Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015) and as creator and star of the Netflix series '' Mas ...

release his standup special ''Dangerously Delicious'' in 2012, VHX shifted its focus to empowering filmmakers to sell their work online. In June 2013, VHX was named to "The 2013

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

Influencers List". VHX raised a $5 million round led by

Comcast Ventures Comcast Ventures was a corporate venture capital firm headquartered in San Francisco, California. History In early 2011, Comcast and NBCUniversal combined their two venture arms, Comcast Interactive Capital founded in 1999 and the Peacock Fund, ...

. Investors, who had previously put $3 million into the company, include

Union Square Ventures Union Square Ventures (USV) is an American venture capital firm based in New York City. The firm has backed more than 130 startups, including Twitter, Etsy, Stripe, Coinbase, Zynga, Tumblr, Stack Overflow, Meetup, Kickstarter, MongoDB, Flur ...

, Lerer Hippeau Ventures and Reddit Chairman

Alexis Ohanian Alexis Kerry Ohanian ( hy, Ալեքսիս Քերի Օհանյան; born April 24, 1983) is an American internet entrepreneur and investor. He is best known as the co-founder and executive chairman of the social media site Reddit along with Ste ...

Content highlights

VHX provides streaming and

DRM DRM may refer to: Government, military and politics * Defense reform movement, U.S. campaign inspired by Col. John Boyd * Democratic Republic of Madagascar, a former socialist state (1975–1992) on Madagascar * Direction du renseignement milita ...

-free downloads of premium video content for many different artists and distributors. Some titles that have used VHX for online distribution include:

Notable Films

*March 2012: ''Dangerously Delicious'',

’s 2011 standup show. *June 2012:'' Indie Game: The Movie'', a 2012 documentary film about independent game developers by James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot. *November 2012: "The Invisible Made Visible", a live episode of ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internatio ...

''. *November 2012: '' Miami Connection'', a 1987 martial arts film restored by Drafthouse Films. *February 2013: '' Sound City'', a 2013 documentary film by Dave Grohl. *April 2013: '' Upstream Color'', a science fiction film by

Shane Carruth Shane Carruth (born 1972) is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, composer, and film actor, actor. He is the writer, director, and co-star of the prize-winning science-fiction film Primer (film), ''Primer'' (2004), which was his debut feature. Hi ...

. *January 2014: '' Life Itself'', a 2014 documentary film by Steve James. VHX powered the streaming of the film from Sundance to fans who had supported the Indiegogo campaign. *February 2014: ''

Camp Takota ''Camp Takota'' is a 2014 comedy-drama film starring YouTube personalities Grace Helbig, Hannah Hart and Mamrie Hart. The film is directed by Nick Riedell and Chris Riedell, also known as ''The Brothers Riedell'', and produced by Michael Goldfine. ...

'', a 2014 feature film starring

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

stars

Grace Helbig Grace Anne Helbig is an American comedian, actress, and internet personality. She is the co-creator and co-host of the podcast ''This Might Get Weird'' (2018–present) alongside frequent collaborator Mamrie Hart and is the voice of Cindy Bear ...

Hannah Hart Hannah Maud Hart (born November 2, 1986) is an American internet personality, comedian, author, and actress. She is known for starring in '' My Drunk Kitchen'', a weekly series on YouTube in which she cooks something while intoxicated. She als ...

, and

Mamrie Hart Mamrie Lillian Hart (; born September 22, 1983) is an American comedian, actress, writer, and performer. She gained popularity in 2011 through her YouTube show ''You Deserve A Drink,'' for which she has won two Streamy Awards: in 2014 for Actress ...

. *February 2014: '' Mistaken for Strangers'', a 2014 documentary about the

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

band The National. *April 2014: ''

Stripped Stripped may refer to: Music * "Stripped" (song), by Depeche Mode, 1986 * ''Stripped'' (Christina Aguilera album) or the title song, 2002 * ''Stripped'' (Daniel Ash album), 2014 * ''Stripped'' (Macy Gray album), 2016 * ''Stripped'' (Pretty Ma ...

'', a 2014 documentary about comic strips artists. *May 2014:

Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles before gaining a leading man status in film and television. Spacey has received various accolade ...

's "NOW: In the Wings on a World Stage," a 2014 documentary about theater and

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's "Richard III." *June 2014:

: Live at BAM, the second live-acted release by

Ira Glass Ira Jeffrey Glass (; born March 3, 1959) is an American public radio personality. He is the host and producer of the radio and television series ''This American Life'' and has participated in other NPR programs, including ''Morning Edition'', ' ...

and This American Life. *July 2014: '' Restrung'', a 2014 documentary about animator

Randy Fullmer Randall Wyn Fullmer (born April 27, 1950) is an American businessman and former executive for The Walt Disney Company. After a successful eighteen-year career at Walt Disney Feature Animation, Fullmer launched his own business, Wyn Guitars, throu ...

leaving

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

to go make guitars. *July 2014: ''

Wish I Was Here ''Wish I Was Here'' is a 2014 American comedy-drama film directed by Zach Braff and co-written with his brother Adam Braff. The film stars Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Josh Gad, Pierce Gagnon, Ashley Greene, Kate Hudson, Joey King, Jim Parsons, ...

'', a 2014 feature by

Zach Braff Zachary Israel Braff'Scrubs' Star Zach Braff Wows ...

funded via Kickstarter used VHX for crowdfunding reward fulfillment worldwide. *August 2014: '' Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret'', a 2014 documentary funded via Kickstarter. *November 2014: ''

Harmontown ''Harmontown'' is a comedy podcast that aired live weekly from June 16, 2012 to December 3, 2019. It was hosted by writer Dan Harmon, best known as the creator of the television series ''Community'' and the co-creator of ''Rick and Morty'', along ...

'', a 2014 documentary about

Dan Harmon Daniel James Harmon (born January 3, 1973) is an American writer, producer, and actor. He is best known as the creator and producer of the NBC/Yahoo! Screen sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), creator and host of the comedy podcast '' Harmontow ...

and his podcast "Harmontown" after being fired from the TV series he created,

Community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

. *December 2014: '' Expelled'', a 2014 feature produced by Awesomeness TV starring

Vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themsel ...

star Cameron Dallas. *March 2016: ''The Watcher Self'', a 2016 British

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and c ...

film written, produced and directed by Matt Cruse. *March 2016: ''Winners Tape All: The Henderson Brothers Story'', a mockumentary that pays homage to 1980s regional direct-to-VHS horror filmmakers and the influx of horror VHS collectors, directed by Justin Channell. *April 2016: '' Amityville: Vanishing Point'', the continuation of the Amityville horror mythos featuring Catie Corcoran and Lloyd Kaufman.

Notable series

*October 2014: '' Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways'', a TV documentary series created for HBO by Dave Grohl and distributed internationally via VHX during its HBO broadcast window in the United States. *2014: Black&Sexy TV, a

channel with multiple web series. *2014

MeatEater ''MeatEater'' is a non-fiction outdoors hunting television series in the United States on Netflix starring Steven Rinella. The show first aired on January 1, 2012 and is produced by Zero Point Zero Production. Episodes Season 1 (2012) Se ...

, a non-fiction TV series with Steven Rinella which broadcasts on the

Sportsman Channel Sportsman Channel is an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network owned by the Outdoor Sportsman Group subsidiary of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. The channel is dedicated to programming about outdoor sports, incl ...

and uses VHX to facilitate worldwide online sales.

Notable distributors

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...

* Drafthouse Films *

Devolver Digital Devolver Digital, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Austin, Texas, specializing in the publishing of indie games. The company was founded in June 2009 by Nigel Lowrie, Harry Miller, Graeme Struthers, Rick Stults, and Mike Wilso ...

Kino Lorber Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art house films, ...

Oscilloscope Laboratories Oscilloscope Laboratories is an independent film company and distributor founded by Adam Yauch and former TH!NKFilm executive David Fenkel. It also has a recording studio and film production facilities. Fenkel returned to the company on May 4, 2 ...

* Noize TV * Telly2Go * Toku *Team Locon

Funding

VHX is funded by

, Lerer Ventures,

Chris Sacca Christopher Sacca (born May 12, 1975) is an American venture investor, company advisor, entrepreneur, and lawyer. He is the proprietor of Lowercase Capital, a venture capital fund in the United States that has invested in seed and early-stage te ...

William Morris Endeavor Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. (formerly known as William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, WME or WME-IMG) is an American holding company for talent and media agencies with its primary offices in Beverly Hills, California, United States. The compa ...

, and

Matt Mullenweg Matthew Charles Mullenweg (born January 11, 1984) is an American entrepreneur and web developer living in Houston. He is known for developing the free and open-source web software WordPress, now managed by The WordPress Foundation. After droppin ...

, among others. In August 2013, the company announced a $3.2 million

Series A A series A round (also known as series A financing or series A investment) is the name typically given to a company's first significant round of venture capital financing. The name refers to the class of preferred stock sold to investors in exc ...

round of financing. The company previously raised $1.25 million in its

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

round of

funding Funding is the act of providing resources to finance a need, program, or project. While this is usually in the form of money, it can also take the form of effort or time from an organization or company. Generally, this word is used when a firm use ...

in June, 2012. Previously it was bootstrap funded by the founders for its first year of operation.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Vimeo Business services companies established in 2011 Internet properties established in 2011 2016 mergers and acquisitions Freelance marketplace websites Online marketplaces of the United States Employment websites in the United States