Vimeo was born as a side project at Connected Ventures, the company behind CollegeHumor, and opened to the public on 15 December 2004. After IAC took control in 2006, the site set itself apart from YouTube by courting creators — better upload tools, careful curation and, from October 2007, high-definition playback, a first among video-sharing sites. It drew independent filmmakers from the start.
High Maintenance
It also made Vimeo the launch pad for High Maintenance, Ben Sinclair and Katja Blichfeld's anthology about a Brooklyn cannabis courier, which premiered there on 11 November 2012. Early episodes cost less than $1,000 each. In June 2014 Vimeo said it would pay for original programming on its Vimeo On Demand platform, and it funded six new High Maintenance episodes, released on 11 November 2014 and 5 February 2015. HBO then picked the show up, and the television version began on 16 September 2016.
Stepping back from originals
Around 2016 Vimeo talked about spending tens of millions of dollars on a subscription service with its own programmes to rival Netflix. By June 2017 it had dropped the idea, judging that it was too far behind, and its new chief executive, Anjali Sud, repositioned the company as a supplier of video software for businesses and creators. Vimeo became a separate listed company in May 2021 and was taken private by Bending Spoons, a Milan-based app developer, in November 2025.
The High Maintenance web series remains Vimeo's main contribution to the shows on this site — a reminder of the brief period when the platform behaved like a small commissioning channel.
Key dates
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Vimeo opens to the public
The CollegeHumor side project launches as a video-sharing site.
Source: Wikipedia: Vimeo
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High Maintenance premieres on Vimeo
The Brooklyn anthology web series debuts on the site.
Source: Wikipedia: High Maintenance
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Vimeo-funded episodes released
The first three High Maintenance episodes paid for by Vimeo arrive on Vimeo On Demand.
Source: Wikipedia: High Maintenance
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High Maintenance moves to HBO
The series begins its run as an HBO television show.
Source: Wikipedia: High Maintenance