IMVU
Online 3D social platform
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
IMVU (/ˈɪmvjuː/, stylized as imvu)[2] is an online virtual world and social networking site.[3][4]
| IMVU | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Private |
| Industry | Social network |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Founder | Will Harvey, Eric Ries |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
| Key people | Daren Tsui (CEO)[1] |
| Website | www |
History
IMVU was founded in 2004[5] and was originally backed by venture investors Menlo Ventures, AllegisCyber Capital, Justin Greene, Bridgescale Partners, and Best Buy Capital.[6][7]
IMVU members use 3D avatars to meet new people, chat, create, and play games.[8][4] In 2014, IMVU had approximately six million active players,[7] and had the largest virtual goods catalog[9] of more than 6 million items as of 2011.[7] The business was previously located in Mountain View, California.[10]
In March 2020, IMVU introduced Live Rooms, a feature enabling users to host live events such as fashion shows, lectures, talk shows, and virtual weddings, allowing audience interaction and tipping.[11]
In 2022, IMVU partnered with Spectrum Labs to use artificial intelligence that identifies and rewards healthy behavior in online interactions.[12]
Name
The company name was neither an acronym nor an initialism. IMVU co-founder Eric Ries[13] described the accidental process by which the company acquired its meaningless name, and stated "It's not an acronym; it doesn't stand for anything".
IMVU's official account had used the backronym "Instant Messenger Virtual Universe" in some on-platform forum posts before 2009, but it has since been stated by the same account that this was intended to "never [be] an official thing", and the words were never used in any branding[14]. The full phrase was also never included in any trademarks, which only cover the letters "imvu".
Credits
IMVU operates a virtual economy based on its proprietary digital currency known as credits, which users can purchase with real money or obtain through various in-platform activities. Credits are used to buy virtual goods such as clothing, furniture, and accessories created by other users for their 3D avatars.[15]
The platform also supports a creator-driven marketplace, where designers sell digital items and earn credits that can be converted to real-world value through IMVU’s reseller program.[3] In 2021, IMVU partnered with the digital finance platform Uphold to allow users to convert their in-platform currency, VCOIN, into real-world money.[16] VCOIN is a blockchain-based digital currency and the first of its kind to receive a no-action letter from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, providing it with regulatory clarity.[17]