Waterproof VR Camera Expected to Ship to Kickstarter Backers in January 2016

When Giroptic, a startup based in Lille, France, launched its 360cam 2K VR camera Kickstarter campaign, backers came through with more than $1.4 million. The company has just announced it has secured another $4.5 million in seed funding and has completed testing its first production models for its original backers.

Made of shock-resistant rubber and a magnesium-alloy shell, the camera is meant to be a rugged and waterproof VR evolution of the ubiquitous 2D action camera. Touted as "the first and only 360 camera able to record full spherical photos and videos as a .jpg or .mp4 file, without any software or post-processing," the 360cam's built-in stitching and WiFi could indeed give it a leg up on multi-step spherical workflows and rigs from GoPro and others.

The 360cam captures 2K video at 20-30 fps and 4K stills at 3 fps. It is available for pre-order for $499. Demo stills and videos are on display in a gallery at the company's website.