Bigscreen
Bigscreen designs and sells the Beyond 2 line of premium ultra-lightweight (107g) PC VR headsets direct-to-consumer via its own e-commerce store, serving enthusiast segments including sim racers, flight sim users, VRChat social VR participants, and home theater hobbyists globally.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersWalnut, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Bigscreen does
Bigscreen is a US-based virtual reality hardware and software company founded in 2013 by Darshan Shankar and headquartered in Walnut, California. The company designs, manufactures, and sells the Bigscreen Beyond line of premium PC VR headsets directly to enthusiast consumers. Its flagship product, the Bigscreen Beyond 2, weighs 107 grams — positioned by the company as the world's smallest VR headset — and integrates dual 1-inch micro-OLED displays (5120×2560 total resolution, 32 PPD, 500,000:1 contrast ratio), six generations of proprietary pancake optics, per-eye adjustable IPD (physical 53–70mm, optically accommodated 48–75mm), 116° diagonal FOV, and SteamVR-based 6DOF tracking. The Beyond 2e variant adds integrated eyetracking via a custom computer-vision pupil model running on AMD and NVIDIA GPUs, enabling dynamic foveated rendering and avatar expression tracking for social VR applications such as VRChat.
Revenue is generated almost entirely through direct-to-consumer hardware sales via the company's own Shopify storefront (store.bigscreenvr.com), with each headset custom-manufactured to a 3D face scan submitted via an iPhone app. Pricing ranges from $1,019 (Beyond 2) to $1,219 (Beyond 2e), with Affirm providing installment financing (0–36% APR) and an optional $129 Audio Strap accessory sold separately. The company serves four primary consumer use-case segments: sim racing, flight simulation, social VR (VRChat), and home theater/entertainment. Distribution is entirely DTC with no third-party retail; demand generation runs through YouTube influencer reviews (Thrillseeker, Boosted Media, Tested, Optimum), a Discord/Reddit community, tech press coverage (The Verge, Forbes, UploadVR, RoadToVR), and a 1.5% affiliate program.
The company has raised approximately $14M in disclosed venture funding across three rounds (most recently an $11M Series A in October 2017 led by True Ventures with participation from Andreessen Horowitz). It operates with 11–50 employees, ships globally to 40+ countries across the Americas, Europe, East Asia, West Asia, and Oceania, and has transitioned since 2023 from a software-only VR app publisher into a vertically integrated custom VR hardware manufacturer.
Bigscreen firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Bigscreen
- Legal name
- Bigscreen, Inc.
- Website
- https://bigscreenvr.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Bigscreen designs and sells the Beyond 2 line of premium ultra-lightweight (107g) PC VR headsets direct-to-consumer via its own e-commerce store, serving enthusiast segments including sim racers, flight sim users, VRChat social VR participants, and home theater hobbyists globally.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Bigscreen industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Virtual Reality Headsets
- NAICS
- Audio and Video Equipment Manufacturing (334310), Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing (33411)
- SIC
- Household Audio & Video Equipment (3651)
- akta.pro primary industry
- VR/XR Hardware & Accessories (Headsets, Controllers, Trackers, Haptics) (MPAFAGAG)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- VR/AR Gaming Hardware (Headsets & Controllers) (HDACANAD), VR/AR Gaming Platforms (BPAMAKAG)
Keywords
Where Bigscreen is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Walnut
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Bigscreen business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Hardware Sales: Primary revenue stream from selling VR headsets (Beyond 2, Beyond 2e) directly to consumers through owned e-commerce store. Custom manufacturing with 3D face scanning required before production. Long lead times from order to delivery.
- Accessories Sales: Revenue from complementary products including Audio Strap ($129), replacement cushions, straps, and other accessories sold through the same storefront.
- Financing Partnership: Revenue enabled through Affirm financing partnerships offering 0-36% APR installment payment options, making higher-priced hardware accessible to more customers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Bigscreen Beyond 2 - Standard model without eyetracking |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Bigscreen Beyond 2e - Model with integrated eyetracking |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Bigscreen Beyond Audio Strap |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Original Bigscreen Beyond (first generation) |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels8 records
Bigscreen product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Bigscreen designs, manufactures, and sells the Beyond line of premium ultra-lightweight PC VR headsets (Beyond 2 and Beyond 2e), along with complementary accessories such as the Audio Strap and Bigscreen Remote Desktop streaming software. Each headset is custom-manufactured based on a sub-millimeter precision 3D face scan captured via the customer's iPhone, enabling a personalized facial interface and an industry-leading 107g form factor. The products target enthusiast PC VR users for gaming, simulation, social VR (VRChat), and home theater applications, sold exclusively through the company's own e-commerce store.
Product overview
Bigscreen is a VR company offering the Beyond line of premium PC VR headsets, software experiences, and accessories. The core product is Bigscreen Beyond 2 (starting at $1,019), the world's smallest VR headset at 107g with pancake optics and micro-OLED displays, along with the Beyond 2e variant ($1,219) featuring integrated eyetracking for dynamic foveated rendering and social VR expression tracking. Bigscreen also provides Bigscreen Remote Desktop software for streaming PC content to Meta Quest headsets, and the Beyond Audio Strap ($129) as an optional accessory for enhanced comfort and audio. All Beyond headsets require SteamVR base stations and work with the Steam/SteamVR platform for PC VR gaming and applications.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Bigscreen Beyond 2 Flagship ultra-lightweight (107g) PC VR headset featuring custom pancake optics, dual 1-inch micro-OLED displays at 5120x2560 resolution, 116° FOV, per-eye adjustable IPD (53-70mm physical), 90Hz refresh rate, and SteamVR 6DOF tracking. Custom-manufactured to a 3D face scan of the buyer, eliminating light leakage. Starts at $1,019 USD and is targeted at premium PC VR enthusiasts for gaming, simulation, and social VR.
- Bigscreen Beyond 2e Variant of Beyond 2 with integrated eyetracking using the world's smallest eyetracking sensor suite (camera sensors the size of a grain of sand), with an AI/computer vision pupil model running on AMD and NVIDIA GPUs. Enables dynamic foveated rendering for improved performance and expression tracking for avatar gaze/body language in social VR. Starts at $1,219 USD.
- Bigscreen Remote Desktop Windows client application that streams a user's PC desktop to Meta Quest and Quest 2 VR headsets over a local network, enabling access to desktop applications and content from within VR. Supports hardware encoding via NVIDIA NVENC, AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin, and Intel Quick Sync for low-latency streaming.
- Bigscreen Beyond Audio Strap Optional accessory for Beyond 2 headsets priced at $129 USD, providing built-in on-ear headphones with high-end audio and powerful bass, a rigid halo-style head strap with adjustable dial for improved comfort, studio-grade microphones, and USB-C connectivity.
Quantifiable outcome
- 2-3x higher resolution compared to Meta Quest 2 (1920x1832 per eye) and Valve Index (1440x1600 per eye)
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Bigscreen
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Bigscreen technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration8 records
AI capability4 records
Feature8 records
Bigscreen partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- NZXTminorNZXT partnered with Bigscreen to recommend gaming PCs compatible with Beyond headset. NZXT Player: One recommended for casual VR gaming (Beat Saber, Bigscreen movie theater) with NVIDIA RTX 30 series. Player: Three with NVIDIA RTX 4090 recommended for demanding titles (Microsoft Flight Simulator, No Man's Sky, VRChat). Bigscreen receives referral traffic while NZXT gains VR hardware credibility.
- Valve (SteamVR)coreBeyond uses SteamVR tracking system for 6DOF headset and controller tracking. Compatible with all SteamVR base stations and controllers including Valve Index controllers. Works with SteamVR platform and all SteamVR games. Steam store hosts Bigscreen Beta VR application.
- NVIDIAcoreBeyond Remote Desktop supports NVIDIA GPUs with NVENC hardware encoding for low-latency desktop streaming to VR. Beyond Utility and eyetracking run inference on NVIDIA GPUs. Link Box DisplayPort connects to NVIDIA graphics cards.
- AMDcoreBeyond Remote Desktop supports AMD GPUs with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.8.1+ for hardware encoding. Eyetracking inference runs on AMD GPUs. Link Box DisplayPort connects to AMD graphics cards.
- Meta (Oculus)coreBeyond Remote Desktop streams PC desktop to Meta Quest headsets. Bigscreen application available on Oculus store. Supports Oculus Link and Air Link for Quest connectivity. Privacy data sharing with Oculus platform.
- VRChatcoreVRChat recommended as ideal social VR experience for Beyond. Eyetracking enables avatar eye expression. Full body tracking support with SteamVR trackers. Beyond 2 praised as ultimate VRChat headset by reviewers.
- VR Game Developers (Half-Life: Alyx, Beat Saber, etc.)coreBeyond compatible with all SteamVR games. Specific recommendations for Half-Life: Alyx, No Man's Sky, Beat Saber, Medal of Honor, Demeo, Bonelab, Hubris, Deadmatter, and other titles. High-resolution displays showcase game graphics.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Bigscreen competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Meta Platforms (Reality Labs): Meta dominates the XR hardware market with 75.7% share via the Quest line. While Meta focuses on standalone mass-market headsets rather than premium PC VR, Bigscreen's Bigscreen Remote Desktop and Bigscreen VR app run on Quest, making Meta both competitor and distribution partner.
- Sony Interactive Entertainment: PlayStation VR2 is a tethered premium VR headset from a major consumer hardware incumbent. While Sony's ecosystem is PlayStation rather than PC, PSVR2 competes for the same premium VR consumer segment and validates the premium-tier headset market.
- Apple: Apple Vision Pro represents the high-end premium XR headset benchmark. While positioned for mixed reality/spatial computing rather than PC VR gaming, Apple competes for the same premium consumer dollar and validates the premium-tier strategy Bigscreen pursues.
- HP (Reverb): HP Reverb G2 is a Windows Mixed Reality / SteamVR-compatible PC VR headset sold by a major OEM. Represents the mainstream PC VR hardware alternative with broader retail availability than Bigscreen's direct-to-consumer model.
Others
- NZXT: NZXT is a gaming PC OEM that has an explicit partnership with Bigscreen to recommend Beyond-compatible gaming PCs. Not a competitor, but a downstream channel partner for converting high-end PC gaming customers into Beyond buyers.
- VRChat: VRChat is a flagship social VR platform and one of Beyond's most-marketed use cases (full body tracking, eyetracking expression). Not a hardware peer, but a content ecosystem Bigscreen's hardware is explicitly optimized for.
Direct peers
- HTC (Vive): HTC's Vive Pro line targets premium PC VR and enterprise users with high-resolution SteamVR-compatible headsets. Direct overlap with Bigscreen on the SteamVR tracking ecosystem and enthusiast PC VR positioning.
- Pimax: Pimax produces high-FOV PC VR headsets (Crystal, Pimax 8K X) targeting enthusiast PC VR users seeking premium visual fidelity. Like Bigscreen, Pimax focuses on specs (resolution, FOV) over mainstream pricing, serving the same enthusiast niche.
- Valve Corporation: Valve's SteamVR platform and Valve Index headset are the core ecosystem on which Bigscreen Beyond operates. Both target premium PC VR enthusiasts with high-FOV, high-fidelity hardware; Bigscreen's SteamVR tracking dependency makes Valve simultaneously its closest partner and most direct competitive comparable.
Emerging players
- Bigscreen VR (the software app itself): Bigscreen's own social VR/home theater application on Steam and Quest is the software companion to the Beyond hardware. Relevant as a comparable in the social VR / virtual desktop category where VRChat, Rec Room, and Meta Horizon Worlds operate.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Bigscreen social profiles
Digital presenceBigscreen financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Bigscreen leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Bigscreen funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors5 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Bigscreen M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Bigscreen
What does Bigscreen do?
Bigscreen designs, manufactures, and sells the Beyond line of premium ultra-lightweight PC VR headsets (Beyond 2 and Beyond 2e), along with complementary accessories such as the Audio Strap and Bigscreen Remote Desktop streaming software. Each headset is custom-manufactured based on a sub-millimeter precision 3D face scan captured via the customer's iPhone, enabling a personalized facial interface and an industry-leading 107g form factor. The products target enthusiast PC VR users for gaming, simulation, social VR (VRChat), and home theater applications, sold exclusively through the company's own e-commerce store.
Is Bigscreen a public or private company?
Bigscreen is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Bigscreen founded?
Bigscreen was founded in 2013. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Bigscreen based?
Bigscreen is headquartered in Walnut, United States, in the North America region.
How does Bigscreen make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Hardware Sales are the primary driver. The others are accessories Sales and financing Partnership.
Who are Bigscreen's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Meta Platforms (Reality Labs), Sony Interactive Entertainment, Apple and HP (Reverb). Others are NZXT and VRChat. Direct peers are HTC (Vive), Pimax and Valve Corporation. Bigscreen VR (the software app itself) is listed as an emerging player.
Does Bigscreen have an API?
No public API is recorded for Bigscreen.
What industry is Bigscreen in?
Bigscreen's product category is Virtual Reality Headsets. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAFAGAG, VR/XR Hardware & Accessories (Headsets, Controllers, Trackers, Haptics), with a secondary code of HDACANAD, VR/AR Gaming Hardware (Headsets & Controllers). Its NAICS code is 334310 and its SIC code is 3651.