Verizon Communications, Inc. owned AOL has acquired virtual reality and 360-degree video company RYOT Corp.

The price of the acquisition was not officially disclosed but is reported to be between $10-$15 million.

Founded in 2012, RYOT describes itself as a vertically-integrated, for-purpose media company and news platform that “engages and activates millennials” (whatever that means) and further states that they are “humanitarians first, storytellers second, and journalists third.”

The company claims they are the first news website that links every story to a related action and that they are content creators that encourage readers to take an active role in every story they read and inspire others to become agents of change in the world.

Although not providing tangible figures, RYOT claims they reach over “20 million young people per month across all our digital channels;” existing clients include XPrize, Kenneth Cole, Esquire, and Land Rover.

As part of the deal, RYOT will become part of AOL property The Huffington Post but will eventually work with other AOL sites including TechCrunch, Engadget, and Autoblog; RYOT has previously worked with The Huffington Post to create a VR film called “The Crossing” which chronicled the illegal immigrant crisis in Greece.

“RYOT will work on big editorial projects, but also with brands. It will work across everything we’re doing at The Huffington Post,” Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief Arianna Huffington told The Wall Street Journal.

Kumbaya

There’s no question that many believe that virtual reality is the next big thing, and to be fair RYOT is doing some interesting things in the space.

But you’ve got to be dancing around a campfire singing kumbaya to be fully confident in a company that says it covers news but lists doing journalism as its last priority after being humanitarians and storytellers first.

Given The Huffington Post’s existing slanted partisan commentary on news, putting journalism last might actually make the company a decent fit.

“There are obviously a lot of VR companies across the landscape, and the idea of producing this type of content is one that’s gaining traction. Our goal was not just to acquire a production studio, but to find one that shares our drive and mission,” The Huffington Post Chief Executive Officer Jared Grusd said on the deal, and that pretty much sums it up.

Image credit: RYOT/screenshot