Funding
Our pals over at Madefire have announced that they’ve secured an additional $6.5 million dollars in Series B funding. A big congratulations to Ben, Liam, Eugene, and the rest of the Madefire team!
Interestingly, in addition to venture group Plus Capital, Madefire’s investors include celebrity artists such as Kevin Spacey and Drake. Pretty neat. However, celebrity associations aside, a much more interesting partner participating in Madefire’s latest round of funding is Framestore. Who is Framestore? They’re the studio responsible for some of the visual effects in films like Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, The Martian, Edge of Tomorrow, and the like. Good stuff. In fact, Ben Wolstenholme, CEO and co-founder of Madefire, said Framestore will be building Madefire-specific content. Which brings us to…
Virtual Reality Comics
Madefire has also announced a partnership with virtual reality provider Oculus.
“Comics are such a powerful storytelling format,” said Wolstenholme. “People learn to read through comics; people are transported to other worlds through comics. Comics are words-and-pictures, perfect for storytelling in virtual reality.”
Madefire is offering a preview app for Samsung Gear VR that showcases their motion books, extending comics with motion, sound and the ability to see the story in a 360-degree environment.
What does this mean for digital comics? Time will tell but progress on any front is good. I look forward to seeing what they come up with!