disguise

About disguise

Disguise operates as a pivotal technology provider for complex visual experiences across live events, virtual production, broadcast, and location-based entertainment. The company's core offering is an integrated platform combining proprietary software and powerful media server hardware. This system functions as an end-to-end workflow solution, enabling creative and technical professionals to pre-visualize in a 3D simulated environment, design, and deliver large-scale video and real-time 3D content for concerts, film sets, broadcast studios, and immersive installations.

The business was founded by Ash Nehru, who established d3 Technologies in 2010 after his work with the art practice United Visual Artists identified a need for a more integrated production tool. The company was later renamed Disguise. The platform's development was driven by a need to unify the design, pre-visualization, and show-control processes into a single workflow. A significant milestone occurred in March 2021 when The Carlyle Group acquired a majority stake, with Epic Games also taking a minority share, to accelerate the company's growth in virtual production and international expansion. CEO Fernando Küfer has led the company through this period of significant growth.

Disguise serves a global client base that includes production companies, broadcasters like Eurosport and MTV, VFX studios, and artists such as Billie Eilish and U2. Its business model revolves around the sale of its hardware media servers and the licensing of its software, including the core 'Designer' software, which is available for free, encouraging widespread adoption and training. The company has expanded its offerings through strategic acquisitions, including Polygon Labs in March 2022 to enhance its broadcast data-visualization and cloud-based workflows, and Meptik in July 2022 to bolster its immersive production and creative services capabilities. To address the burgeoning metaverse market, Disguise launched its Metaverse Solutions division and Metaverse Labs, a global network of experts designed to help brands and creatives develop virtual experiences.