Vimeo acquires Brooklyn’s VHX to bulk up on content

Not content to be a passive platform any longer, Vimeo, the YouTube for cool kids, announced that it has acquired Dumbo’s VHX.
VHX is a platform that allows content creators to sell their ‘tent directly to consumers. As far back as 2013, Aziz Ansari and Louis C.K. each released web-only comedy specials, both of which were sold over VHX. Such a setup eliminates to an extent middlemen, managers, studios, advertisers and whomever else takes a cut of an artist’s revenues. It also allows amateurs to make some actual money for projects they might’ve just released for free online.
In the deal, Vimeo will maintain all 22 of VHX’s employees and allow it to maintain its own goals, founders Jamie Wilkinson and Casey Pugh wrote on the VHX blog.
“In the long-term, we get to improve VHX a lot faster: better streaming infrastructure, better apps, more marketing and business development firepower, and access to a huge, global audience,” they wrote.
VHX has been backed by many of the big name VCs in New York. In a Series B round last year, the company raised $5.8 million, solely from Comcast Ventures, raising their total funding to $10.25 million, according to CrunchBase.