Podcast Summary: Volumetric Sports Surge – Peripheral's $3.6M

Podcast: The Jaeden Schafer Podcast
Episode Date: January 5, 2026
Topic: The rise of volumetric video in sports broadcasting, focusing on Peripheral Labs, their recent $3.6M seed round, and the implications of AI-powered 3D reconstruction for the sports industry.

Overview

This episode dives into Peripheral Labs, a Toronto-based startup harnessing self-driving car technology and AI to make volumetric video—an immersive, video game-like sports viewing experience—affordable and accessible to teams and broadcasters worldwide. Jaeden Schafer details how this technology could revolutionize sports viewership, explores the startup’s founding story, technical advantages, funding, and puts these developments into the context of broader trends in AI and entertainment.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Challenge: Declining Sports Viewership Among Gen Z

• [02:10] Schafer sets the stage by noting a decline in live sports viewership, especially among Gen Z audiences.
  • Leagues and broadcasters are looking for ways to make live sports more interactive, data-rich, and engaging—tests include new formats, live stats, and deep analysis overlays.

2. Volumetric Video: A New Kind of Fan Experience

• [03:00] Volumetric video lets fans watch plays from any angle, creating a “video game-like experience.”
  • Utilizes arrays of 3D cameras that capture the entire field of play, enabling replay and exploration from countless perspectives.
  • Schafer:

    "You can imagine typically when you watch a game... you just see it from that one angle. So there's a company out of Toronto called Peripheral Labs... working to make this volumetric video affordable enough for widespread adoption."

3. Peripheral Labs – The Founders’ Story

• [04:10] Peripheral Labs founded in 2024 by Kelvin Q and Mustafa Khan, both with backgrounds in autonomous vehicles and robotics.
  • Q: Previously a software engineer at Tesla (chassis systems).
  • Khan: Former University of Toronto autonomous driving researcher, then Huawei.
  • Quoting Q on the company’s origins ([05:20]):

    "Mustafa and I are both lifelong sports fans. He's a huge Arsenal supporter. And I followed the Vancouver Canucks since I was 7... When he showed me his research on 3D reconstruction, I immediately thought about how incredible it would be to watch hockey this way with fluid multiangle controls. That's what led us to start Peripheral Labs."

4. Technical Breakthrough: Fewer Cameras, Greater Access

• [06:30] Traditional volumetric systems need 100+ cameras—expensive and complex.
  • Peripheral Labs applies robotics, computer vision, and AI (from self-driving) to reduce this to 32 cameras, making installations cheaper and more practical.
  • Q explains their edge ([09:20]):

    "We use off the shelf camera. Our advantage comes from how we combine them with robotics and machine learning that allows us to scale from small practice facilities to large soccer and football stadiums."

5. Features & Potential Applications

• [10:00] Platform captures biomechanical data—joint flexion, finger/ankle movement—powering new sports analytics and richer replays.
  • Fans can follow favorite players, freeze moments for controversial calls, and view key plays from any angle.
  • Powerful implications for coaching (detailed body analysis, performance optimization).

6. Business Model & Funding

• [12:00] Raised a $3.6 million seed round led by Koshala Ventures; joined by Daybreak Capital, Entrepreneur First, and Transposed Platforms.
  • Joss Joe Rose at Entrepreneur First notes their dual positioning: sports and entertainment platform ([13:05]):

    "Peripheral is helping redefine a new standard for how [sports] content is consumed through immersive volumetric video. The work we're doing now creates a data and deployment advantage that will be hard to replicate."

7. Go-to-Market & Product Roadmap

• [14:20] Peripheral Labs is selective with investors, prioritizing those adding product or go-to-market expertise.
  • Team of 10 engineers—plan to expand, improve hardware/software, reduce costs/latency, and potentially bring camera count even lower.
  • Currently in talks with multiple North American leagues/teams (partners not yet disclosed).
  • Competing with Arcturus Studios and others in the volumetric sports tech space.

8. The AI & Sports Tech Context

• [16:10] Schafer ties the discussion to broader AI trends:
  • AI/computer vision unlocking entirely new fan experiences and sports analytics—potentially reshaping how games are watched and coached.

  "There's a lot of impressive things you can do now with AI... It will be pretty incredible if they could bring [camera count] down to, like, 10 cameras or something... and reconstruct the whole game in 3D."

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [05:20] Kelvin Q:

  "I immediately thought about how incredible it would be to watch hockey this way with fluid multiangle controls. That's what led us to start Peripheral Labs."

• [09:20] Kelvin Q:

  "Our advantage comes from how we combine [off-the-shelf cameras] with robotics and machine learning that allows us to scale from small practice facilities to large soccer and football stadiums."

• [13:05] Joss Joe Rose (Entrepreneur First):

  "Peripheral is helping redefine a new standard for how [sports] content is consumed through immersive volumetric video. The work we're doing now creates a data and deployment advantage that will be hard to replicate."

• [16:10] Schafer:

  "There's a lot of impressive things you can do now with AI... It will be pretty incredible if they could bring [camera count] down to, like, 10 cameras or something... and reconstruct the whole game in 3D."

Key Timestamps

• [02:10] – Decline in live sports viewership & response by leagues
• [03:00] – Explanation of volumetric video
• [04:10] – Background on Peripheral Labs & its founders
• [06:30] – Technical advances: camera count reduction
• [09:20] – Quote: Advantage through AI/robotics
• [10:00] – New fan and coaching features enabled by the tech
• [12:00] – $3.6M funding and notable investors
• [14:20] – Team, product focus, and go-to-market decisions
• [16:10] – AI’s broader impact and future potential

Conclusion

This episode highlights how Peripheral Labs is advancing volumetric video technology to transform sports viewing and analytics via AI and computer vision. By reducing costs and complexity, they aim to bring immersive, customizable 3D sports experiences to fans and teams everywhere. Schafer positions the story as a telling sign of where sports tech—in combination with AI—is rapidly headed.