tech
The developer behind VLC's 6 billion downloads now wants to connect hundreds of millions of robots
VLC developer Jean-Baptiste Kempf raised $5M led by Lightspeed for Kyber, an open-source SDK that controls remote machines with ultra-low latency.
TL;DR
- Jean-Baptiste Kempf, lead developer of VLC Media Player, has raised $5 million for his startup Kyber.
- Kyber develops an infrastructure layer for real-time control of remote devices with ultra-low latency.
- The funding round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from OVNI Capital and Kima Ventures.
- Kyber's core product is an SDK built on FFmpeg and VLC, demonstrating 8 milliseconds of glass-to-glass latency.
- The technology is applicable to robotics, drones, remote vehicles, cloud rendering, and remote IT access.
- Kyber is already in commercial deployment with customers in defense, telco, robotics, and AI.
- The startup aims to provide control and observability for scaling remote device fleets.
- Kyber is prioritizing robotics, drones, and remote IT access segments.
- The core project is open-source under a dual license, with enterprise products and custom integrations offered.
- Kyber has offices in Paris, San Francisco, and Singapore.
- Lightspeed views the investment as a bet on the underlying systems supporting physical AI.