Vessel, a YouTube competitor that is using a subscription option to provide temporary early access to some of its OTT fare, has raised a $57.5 million “B” round led by Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), with help from earlier investors Greylock, Benchmark and Bezos Expeditions, Jeff Bezos’s personal investment company.

Vessel, a service co-founded by former Hulu CEO Jason Kilar, has raised more than $134 million.

Following a brief invitation-only beta trial, Vessel’s service launched commercially on March 24. It’s offered on Web browsers and iOS devices, with an Android version in the works.

As detailed by Vessel in December, the service's “early access” subscription product provides temporary exclusives to short-form videos for $2.99 per month.  After that limited exclusivity window, typically 72 hours, Vessel’s content partners are free to make their videos available via YouTube, their own Web sites, or any other online distributor.

Vessel, which struck a deal earlier this month to offer clips from The Ellen DeGeneres Show,  also offers a slate of free, ad-supported, non-exclusive videos. Vessel has not announced how many consumers are on its subscription-based offering.  

IVP, a later stage VC and growth equity firm with more than $4 billion in committed capital, has made bets on companies such as Netflix, Shazam, Snapchat, Twitter, LegalZoom and Dropbox.

“We believe Vessel has the potential to be as successful as these companies someday,” IVP general partner Todd Chaffee wrote in this blog post.

“What we are trying to accomplish —creating a video platform that delights consumers and creators alike— is ambitious,” Kilar wrote in this blog post. “Each of these investors brings experience, resources and long-term thinking that will guide us as we continue pursuing our ambitions. Their investment in Vessel will enable us to grow, as a company and a business, equipped with the world-class team and resources we need to make our visions real.”

Universal Music Group (UMG) has inked a deal to premiere select music videos through Vessel, the new premium OTT video startup that is competing with YouTube for content and talent.

Vessel, a service founded by former Hulu CEO Jason Kilar, launched its beta version last month alongside a group of initial content providers. Under its model, Vessel offers temporary exclusives to short-form videos for $2.99 per month. Following that exclusive period – at least 72 hours -- Vessel’s partners are free to distribute their content via other platforms.

UMG said it will bow certain videos through Vessel for an exclusive time period before releasing them to free, ad-supported services. The specific artist videos from UMG’s labels that will be featured on Vessel’s paid tier will be revealed in the coming weeks, they said.   

Kilar, Lucian Grainge, chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, announced the arrangmenent Wedneday at Re/Code’s Code/Media conference in Dana Point, Calif.

"Vessel represents the latest business model innovation for premium short-form content and we’re pleased to extend our industry-leading track record of empowering entrepreneurs who are growing the playing field for new content services, Grainge said, in a statement.

“We are excited to work with Lucian and everyone at Universal. Their team has a real gift for finding talented new voices and helping them reach a wider audience through new platforms like Vessel,” added Kilar. “It’s no secret that consumers love music videos. We look forward to giving Universal artists an amazing new home on Vessel.”

Vessel, Jason Kilar’s OTT subscription VOD venture that will compete for talent, ad dollars and traffic with YouTube, launched a beta version of its service Wednesday while also announcing a sizable batch of initial content partners.

Vessel detailed its playbook in December, announcing an “early access” subscription product that provides temporary exclusives to short-form videos for $2.99 per month. The hope is that the economic model will give Vessel a leg up in the hot multichannel network (MCN) market by luring subscribers and creating an economic model that will attract top talent and content creators.

In a blog post, Kilar, the former Hulu CEO who co-founded and now heads up Vessel, announced the beta launch, inviting users on a first-come, first-served basis to try out the service for a month for free on iOS devices and Web browsers, noting that the company will soon launch a version that’s compatible with Android-powered devices, with other platforms already in the works.

“Our vision is to make Vessel accessible anywhere fans have an internet-connected screen, including gaming consoles, set-top boxes and smart TV,” Kilar said. 

Vessel, which uses “Watch your favorites here first” as its tagline, didn't say how long this beta phase willl last, though it's expected to launch commercially later this year.

Under its model, content creators agree to give Vessel (and its paid subscribers) exclusive three-day distribution windows. After that, their content becomes free on Vessel and gives the content owners the green light to distribute their videos via YouTube and other online platforms.

Since opening itself up to the content community, the company has signed up several partners that will debut videos on Vessel, including Anna Akana, Roman Atwood, Tanya Burr, Connor Franta, Nerdist Industries, Arden Rose, Jimmy Tatro, Brittani Louise Taylor, Unbox Therapy, Jack Vale, and Wassabi Productions, among others.

They join a group of MCNs that had already hopped on Vessel’s early access offering, including Machinima, Tastemade and DanceOn, as well as video creators such as Rhett & Link, Shane Dawson, Marcus Butler, Caspar Lee and Ingrid Nilsen; and more traditional media companies that include A+E Networks Warner Music Group, and series/channels such as  IconicTV’s Jay Z’s Life+Times and Above Average Productions’ Alec Baldwin’s Love Ride.