VholdR – market leader in HD wearable camcorders

When avid skiers Marc Barros and Jason Green were entrepreneurship undergraduates at the University of Washington, they tried to share videos of the thrills and spills of their downhill adventures with their friends. Their initial attempts were dismal.  “A frozen mountaintop is a grueling and unforgiving environment for video camcorders,” said Barros. “And when you’re zooming downhill, crashing through trees with ski poles in your hands, it’s just not smart to hold a camera.”  The two devised a simple helmet camera to make action video easy to shoot and easier to share. That was in 2003. Their newest product, the Contour HD, was named a Top 20 Holiday Product for 2009 by Time Magazine and a 2009 Top100 Gadget by Wired Magazine.

Barros and Green entered the 2003 UW Business Plan Competition with that first helmet camera and took third place, winning “just enough money to afford the rent on a chilly warehouse,” Barros said. But that seed funding gave them the foothold they needed:  the two friends began building and selling their cameras and introduced a series of innovations that enhanced the “hands-free capture and effortless online sharing of action and travel video.”

Fast forward to 2009. VholdR introduced the world’s first HD wearable camcorder and made the list of fastest growing companies in Washington. “What makes us really proud is that we’re profitable,” said Barros, “with more 300% revenue growth from 2008. We’re selling our ContourHD cameras in hundreds of outdoor sports retailers across the United States and in 45 countries.  More than 75% of our camera owners actively publish video content on the VholdR.com community.”  Barros says that VholdR, whose tag line is “Wear it. Shoot it. Share it,” expects to double again in 2010. Check it out: http://video.contour.com/

WATCH VIDEO from USA Today: High-definition equals high sales for wearable video camera