Vidme (not to be confused with Vimeo, as we had to read it a few times to be sure) is no more. The video service, which emerged in 2014, has announced they will be shutting down their website, according to Tube Filter.
The announcement was made by Vidme co-founder Warren Schaeffer in a blog post. He said that all users have until December 15 to save their videos and that all revenue will be paid within 60 days.
Vidme had often been described as a hybrid of YouTube and Reddit by the internet community. “The first VOD platform to offer both on-platform tipping and paid subscriptions, Vidme became one of the top 1,000 most popular destinations on the web, reaching over 200 million people annually,” Schaeffer said in the blog post.
All things being totaled up, Vidme — according to the company — had 6 billion views during its lifespan, and the most popular uploads were making thousands of dollars per month, according to Variety.
However, the reason Schaeffer listed for having to shut down was the competition. Vidme had become no longer as relevant as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit or a hundred other sites. While Vidme had raised $9.2 million from investors such as NEA, Upfront Ventures, First Round Capital, Lowercase Capital, SV Angel and Mucker Capital, it appears it wasn’t enough.
“Many creators with millions of subscribers on YouTube and Facebook were initially attracted to Vidme’s model,” Schaeffer’s blog said, “but faced difficulty transitioning audiences from their home platforms. Convincing people to use (and keep using) a new platform is hard, leaving many creators locked in.”
Due to this news, Vidme is laying off four full-time employees.
Yet, there is some good news — Schaeffer confirmed that another product is in development and will launch at some point next year. “While we’re disappointed to close something that we put so much of our hearts into, we’re excited and eager to apply what we’ve learned to our new product,” he wrote.