The giant US retailer is setting up the joint venture called W*E Interactive Ventures to develop interactive content to help it compete with Amazon, Globes reports.
Walmart Inc., the world's lasrgest retailer, has announced a strategic entertainment joint venture with Israeli interactive video technology developer Eko. No financial details about the partnership were disclosed but "Reuters" and the "New York Times" report that Walmart will invest $250 million in the joint venture.
Eko (formerly known as Interlude) was founded in 2009 by CEO Yoni Bloch, Tal Zubalsky and Barak Feldman. The company has offices in New York and Tel Aviv.
The joint venture, known as W*E Interactive Ventures, will be led by Bloch, with input from several industry experts. The platform will develop interactive content from toy catalogs to cooking shows.
Bloch said, “The future of video entertainment is interactive, and this joint venture is a huge step towards bringing this future to life,” said Yoni Bloch, chief executive officer ofIn 2018, all forms of media are personalized except for live action video. At Eko, our mission is to evolve past basic personalization and partnering with Walmart will accelerate that evolution. We’re working alongside some of the most creative people from Hollywood and around the world, and we invite others to join us in making great interactive content.”