The Future Group Announces Ross Video Strategic Investor in Ongoing Series B Funding Round

September 11, 2015 – Oslo – The Future Group™ (TFG), a Norwegian new media company, today announced the participation of Ross Video in the company’s Series B funding round. The 7-figure investment from Ross Video (Iroquois, Ontario, Canada) is part of a strategic partnership between TFG and Ross. This marks an important step in the Company´s efforts to reach its goal of $12M in series B funding – representing one of the largest European raises in the tech sector.

TFG is creating “The Future Universe”, a revolutionary social entertainment platform that melds TV, gaming, brand awareness and social shopping (e-commerce) into a holistic experience like no other. Combining cutting-edge movie special effects pioneered in “The Matrix®”, with VR and storytelling/product positioning for brands, The Future Universe communicates through every screen: PC, mobile and primetime TV. No headsets or other gear are required to access or participate in this new experiential platform.

Ross Video is a global leader in creating technology and providing services for live video production.  Ross offers the broadest range of live production gear, used in top productions by the who’s who of the entertainment industry.

“We are very excited to have Ross as a development partner and we see their investment as an expression of deep confidence in us and a commitment to changing the future of television,” said Jens Petter Høili, co-founder and Chairman of The Future Group. “There is no other video production equipment company in the world that has their expertise and their history of successfully bringing innovation to the market. We are already seeing amazing results from our cooperation and look forward towards establishing a new benchmark for state-of-the-art visual effects.”

Ross will combine its proprietary VR technology with TFG’s 3D/VR/AR content to launch an interactive VR game show in 2016, igniting a new era of entertainment. TFG is partnering with one of the world´s largest TV content production and distribution companies to develop the game show, which will be the first of several show formats to be launched.

“Ross began its relationship with TFG as a technical collaboration, because we were intrigued by their ambitions and saw the immense potential in solving the challenges and how closely they were aligned with our own aims in certain areas. We have now moved to invest in TFG because we see this as the ground floor of a shift in the way media will be produced and the way it will be consumed. We firmly believe TFG will play a major role in driving this development,” commented David Ross, CEO Ross Video.

Core Ross technology used by TFG will be shown on the Ross Video booth at IBC (Amsterdam) in hall 9, stand C.10 as part of a complete virtual and augmented reality production studio that shows how VS/AR can be used to produce big productions in a compact space, enhance the look of a production and reduce costs.

About The Future Group
The Future Group AS has developed a social entertainment platform for TV, mobile and desktop that lets you play in and actually enter a fully-rendered game environment where the real and imagined worlds become one. The Future Group introduces a combined TV, gaming and product experience within a social context, creating a truly integrated and interactive media arena. A weekly prime-time game show debuting worldwide in 2016 from one of the world’s largest production companies will allow contestants to enter and interact with these virtual environments for televised competition. Show participants will also compete against millions of home viewers, and an integrated social network will allow cooperative efforts to win prizes in an ongoing and immersive entertainment experience like no other.

About Ross Video
Passionate about live production, Ross Video designs, manufactures and delivers dependable technology and services that power exceptional live video productions seen by billions of viewers around the world every day. Ross Video’s goal is to make it easy for customers to create compelling news, weather and sports broadcasts, engaging material for sports stadium screens, legislative assemblies, entertainment shows and rock concerts, and inspiring content for houses of worship.

Relentlessly innovating, Ross Video delivers the world’s widest range of products and services for augmented reality and virtual sets, mobile live-event solutions, real-time motion graphics, robotic camera systems, social-media management, production switchers, routers, infrastructure products, video servers, newsroom systems, terminal equipment and more.

Ross products and services are designed to offer the best system integration and unmatched customer choice by both working together seamlessly and integrating tightly with third-party solutions.

Ross Video has offices around the world, and provides outstanding, free-for-life telephone support staffed by technical experts 24 hours a day, 365 days a year—even for products bought on eBay. Ross employees are authorized to rent helicopters when necessary.

Ross Video: The Production Technology Experts.

-30-

Ross Video Media Contact:
Sara Bell
Media Relations Co-ordinator
t. (613) 652-3020
f. (613) 652-4425
e. sbell@rossvideo.com

Ross Video Media Contact – EMEA:
Stuart G. Russell
Marketing Manager, EMEA
t. +44 7827 019494
f. +1 613-652-4425
e. srussell@rossvideo.com

Ross Video Media Contact – Asia Pacific:
Vivian Yu
Marketing & Operations Manager, Asia Pacific
t. +65 9827 3531
f. +1 613-652-4425
e. vyu@rossvideo.com