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From fireworks to firefighters: The best GoPro videos that helped launch a $100m brand

You may not own one of their cameras, but thanks to their viral hits you've definitely seen footage captured by a GoPro

James Vincent

Tuesday 20 May 2014 11:58 BST

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After 10 years of trading, GoPro look set to become the first multi-million dollar tech IPO which owes its success - at least in part - to the curiosity of pigs.

Well, we’re exaggerating slightly, but a video captured by one of the company’s ruggedized cameras as it was dropped by a skydiver and landed in a pig pen is just one of the many viral videos that have helped create the GoPro brand.

With a range of accessories that lets customers strap their GoPro to pretty much anything, the company’s high-definition cameras have captured a stunning array of footage and proved an excellent source for the sort of clips that YouTube loves.

We’ve gathered a list of some of our favourites, but if the company’s IPO filing is to be believed then these sorts of videos could soon be coming to a TV near you.

GoPro, who currently make all of their money from hardware, has ambitions to become a “media entity,” having already secured a channel on Virgin America’s in-flight entertainment system and with plans to introduce something similar for Microsoft’s Xbox One console.

It’s unlikely that these sorts of ventures will create significant revenue for the company (they don’t currently make any money at all) but they could prove a good way to put their products in front of new customers, showing them just what their cameras can do.