River Accelerator.

Prior to creating River Studios, in 2012 Mike founded Rothenberg Ventures, a seed-stage venture capital firm based in San Francisco and the leading VC for Frontier Technology startups. In January 2015, identifying the huge potential in VR, Rothenberg decided to build the world's first startup accelerator program focused on VR companies, and named it The River Accelerator Program, run by Rothenberg Ventures at the time. After the River Accelerator 2015 Spring program, Mike founded River Studios to create, build and promote frontier technology including VR, AR, and AI and to advise and partner with clients like Rothenberg Ventures.

River Studios' team of experienced cinematographers helped the River Accelerator identify and cultivate startups to produce better technology and VR content, which started to draw the attention of artists and brands, that in turn asked to work with River Studios to help them understand, build, and create VR & AR content. In 2015, a client project that combined production with development work inspired the studio to partner closely with Twisted Oak Studios, one of the most talented Unity 3D development studios in the world, which unofficially became known as "River Studios Canada".

Since 2015, River Studios has collaborated with artists and creators across the globe including Coldplay, Beyonce, Bjork, and BEP. River Studios' producer Mike Rothenberg pitched, created and produced "Hymn For the Weekend", launched in 2016 and now approaching 900 million YouTube views. River Studios has continued its collaborated with Rothenberg Ventures as a joint venture for the River Accelerator 2015 Fall, River Accelerator 2016 program, and River Accelerator 2017 programs.