Social platform that democratizes Real-Time Video for Mass Media
Amount Raised
$275,699
Investors
3
Days Left
Closed
Regulation D Offering
In any kind of media, audience attention is the currency. But that attention is rapidly shifting towards platforms that give the audience a way to be seen and heard. They're moving to places where they can engage in meaningful ways.
Almost all media makers trying to reach an audience craft programs based on three promises:
- Topic - the audience knows what a program is about
- Time - the audience knows how much time they're going to invest
- Quality - the audience knows there's a level of quality they're going to get
Spontaneous inclusion of viewers into a given program presents a pretty big risk to that commitment.
At Yottio, we think there's a significant opportunity gap in bringing authentic, spontaneous, real-time conversations and engagement to any audience if we can help media makers keep their three promises.
Our products and platform are designed to do just that.
Data source: Venrock/David Pakman/Nurzhas Makishev
Yottio is the first ever social network built around live video that connects users directly with Producers of shows they can be a part of creating a media marketplace for real-time engagement.
We've brought this together with a powerful production platform that makes it possible to spontaneously aggregate large volumes of potential guests, select the best, and help them be great while on-air or in-stream.
Livestreaming has been around forever. The dirty little secret is that it's not live.
In both broadcast and online media, the video everyone watches is usually 12-30 seconds behind what's really happening in-studio or on-location.
The second problem our competitors have is that there's no discreet, real-time way for anyone to coach, guide or actively produce the content from these streams.
Competitors that are real-time, like Skype or Google Hangouts are built in a way that requires producers to prearrange interviews, call times, and participants hours, or even days in advance, and are limited in the number of potential participants that can join a show.
They're impossible to "spontaneously" produce with.
Using Yottio, content producers can ask anyone in their audience to join at a moments notice; or quickly and easily find highly ranked live streams from other services and ask individual users to join a show directly.
Yottio owns a fully-issued US Patent on advanced, multi-guest, on-the-fly real-time video participation .
Apps: Public facing consumer apps with channels and programs users can join when live; to be available on:
- iOS (iPhone app in beta now)
- Android (in development)
- Webapp (deployed now)
- Facebook app (planned)
Anchors: We are currently in discussions with a wide range of broadcasters on-air and online for trials and on-air integration. The closest deals to closing for trials currently include NBC, The Weather Channel, Sky Italy, Fox Sports Italy, and Yahoo Studios for Q3/Q4 2015 deployment.
Accessibility: Our moderation & production control interfaces currently run as high-performance video trafficking hubs on purpose-built hardware for professional broadcasters. We are currently developing a new control interface for online broadcasters who don't need to interface with legacy broadcast workflows; but wish to add real-time screening, moderation and participation to any live video event or program.
These SaaS products will significantly lower the barrier-to-entry for participation-based broadcasts without the hardware or cost overhead required by traditional broadcasters.
Assumptions to follow:
- 52% Building (Engineering)
- 26% Sales & Marketing
- 22% Overhead, Operations, Legal
Yottio was recently one of six finalists at the 2015 Seattle Angel Conference, where the Company completed an intensive four-week due diligence process with the SAC team that included:
- Review of relevant Company legal documentation
- Live demonstrations of Company products
- Product discussions with Company developers and engineers
- Market discussions with industry leaders in Yottio's market, including:
- Sandy Grushow - past President of Fox Television
- John Canning - Head of Innovative Experiences at NBC Digital Entertainment
- Jason Ehrlich - Executive Producer American Dream Builders, Ready for Love, The Bachelor
- Review of the Company's product pipeline and market approach
Yottio met the SAC requirements for being in the final competitive round after completion of this diligence. We are happy to provide diligence items as appropriate for potential investors.
Previously outstanding indebtedness in the principal amount of $220,000 will be converted into notes in this financing and will be included for purposes of satisfying the offering minimum amount. This includes a note of $100,000 issued to Kwaai Oak, Corp in exchange for development services provided to the Company.
Mr. Lawrence is a creative & technical expert with almost 20 years of experience in professional media. He has lead teams of wide ranging sizes with missions that vary from delivering the first cable “participation tv” series in America, to hundreds of hours of traditional reality television, to independent feature films, to leading product development for one NBC's most ambitious digital initiatives ever.
He...
Expand BioMr. Lawrence is a creative & technical expert with almost 20 years of experience in professional media. He has lead teams of wide ranging sizes with missions that vary from delivering the first cable “participation tv” series in America, to hundreds of hours of traditional reality television, to independent feature films, to leading product development for one NBC's most ambitious digital initiatives ever.
He is a serial entrepreneur and product-obsessed executive who built the first broadcast app in America to go to #1 in the app store in it's first 10 days in release, gain 1.5m registered users in 6 weeks, and gave at-home players the first chance in television history to be a part of a prime-time show by engaging with a digital product.
In addition to deep professional media expertise in film & television at the executive & operational levels, he is well-versed in digital product development. He has a strong understanding of web technologies, their development and application to solving problems for some of the most demanding customers on the planet.
Collapse BioMr. Rassool is serving as CTO via a development agreement with Kwaai Oak; and he has an outstanding track record of as a serial start-up professional with a history of successful development and value creation. He has created multiple award winning technologies, and awarded numerous patents with focus on digital media and entertainment and leveraged that work into notable exits.
He is a battle-tested CTO who...
Expand BioMr. Rassool is serving as CTO via a development agreement with Kwaai Oak; and he has an outstanding track record of as a serial start-up professional with a history of successful development and value creation. He has created multiple award winning technologies, and awarded numerous patents with focus on digital media and entertainment and leveraged that work into notable exits.
He is a battle-tested CTO who relishes the hardest technical challenges twinned with the task of harnessing talent towards a common business purpose.
He has extensive domain expertise in: hybrid cloud, social gaming, mobile, big data, analytics, TV Everywhere, DRM, adaptive streaming, film and post-production, bio-medical, embedded systems, and signal processing.
Collapse BioMr. Stablilini is the Senior Software Engineer of Yottio and has worked on the platform code for since 2009. He is a brilliant software engineer and considered by the Apache Foundation as one of the ten best Java programmers in the world. He is also versant in J2EE, C , C++ and an expert in real-time video encoding and streaming technologies. Mr. Stabilini has created software solutions that have expanded and...
Expand BioMr. Stablilini is the Senior Software Engineer of Yottio and has worked on the platform code for since 2009. He is a brilliant software engineer and considered by the Apache Foundation as one of the ten best Java programmers in the world. He is also versant in J2EE, C , C++ and an expert in real-time video encoding and streaming technologies. Mr. Stabilini has created software solutions that have expanded and advanced the frontiers of web video interaction to previously unheard of capabilities. In addition to creating a majority of the Yottio Platform, Stabilini has designed software for Advansys, Digital Magics, and Webrise, among others.
Collapse BioBibop is regarded worldwide as a foremost expert in digital media and technology, specializing in viral projects, participative television and innovative TV formats designed for various digital platforms. By age 15, he was Software Development Director for a multinational company (Alpha Center Int.), and at 16 he created the first super-learning system with various technical internships in the UK, US and...
Expand BioBibop is regarded worldwide as a foremost expert in digital media and technology, specializing in viral projects, participative television and innovative TV formats designed for various digital platforms. By age 15, he was Software Development Director for a multinational company (Alpha Center Int.), and at 16 he created the first super-learning system with various technical internships in the UK, US and Australia. Gresta's television career includes experience as the writer, producer and host of several hit programs on MTV. On TMC2 he hosted Altromondo, the first daily Italian TV show dedicated to video games.
In 1995 Gresta founded Bibop Research Int, a cross-media agency that creates interactive formats such as the Mediaset Portal, Futureshow, Tim Tour, and Alice Live for Telecom Italia. In 1999, Gresta sold 40% of Bibop to Telecom Italia for 11 Billion (Italian Lira = 25 Mln Dollars). In 2000, he created and produced the first ever TV format that used text messaging as a form of interaction: "2008" for Italia1. In 2003, Gresta founded Digital Magics Group, an incubator focused on digital media and technology. DM collected €15 M from partners and private investors, funds that have been invested in 26 companies within the group. In 2011 he joined the board of Brainspark, a stock listed U.K. Investment Company, as CEO of their Digital Division.
Collapse BioA dynamic executive leader in the digital/media space who has consistently excelled in assessing industry trends, internal opportunities, and external threats to develop and implement strategy that delivers results. Recognized for driving change, diversifying and growing revenues, and for advancing teams to push past the status quo to capitalize on new windows of market opportunity.
Deeply focused on strategy,...
Expand BioA dynamic executive leader in the digital/media space who has consistently excelled in assessing industry trends, internal opportunities, and external threats to develop and implement strategy that delivers results. Recognized for driving change, diversifying and growing revenues, and for advancing teams to push past the status quo to capitalize on new windows of market opportunity.
Deeply focused on strategy, opportunity and innovation to transform companies to grow revenues and optimize performance.
Collapse BioSandy Grushow is one of a rare breed of entertainment executives who has successfully married his vast experience in traditional media with the explosive world of digital media and technology. Grushow achieved creative, financial, and strategic leadership success as chairman of Fox’s broadcast network and television studio, where his tenure saw the debut of the “American Idol” juggernaut along with major hits such...
Expand BioSandy Grushow is one of a rare breed of entertainment executives who has successfully married his vast experience in traditional media with the explosive world of digital media and technology. Grushow achieved creative, financial, and strategic leadership success as chairman of Fox’s broadcast network and television studio, where his tenure saw the debut of the “American Idol” juggernaut along with major hits such as “24,” ”House,” ”Malcolm in the Middle,” and “The OC.”
Grushow also currently serves as a board member for The Weather Company, the parent company of The Weather Channel and Weather.com.
Collapse BioCyrus Krohn is executive producer at Cheezburger. Previously Krohn was co-founder of Crowdverb, a digital advocacy firm acquired by the WPP group. Krohn was Sr. Director and Executive Producer for Microsoft's web portal, MSN.com. Krohn returned to Microsoft in 2009 following two years as Director of the Republican National Committee's eCampaign Division during the 2008 presidential election cycle campaign...
Expand BioCyrus Krohn is executive producer at Cheezburger. Previously Krohn was co-founder of Crowdverb, a digital advocacy firm acquired by the WPP group. Krohn was Sr. Director and Executive Producer for Microsoft's web portal, MSN.com. Krohn returned to Microsoft in 2009 following two years as Director of the Republican National Committee's eCampaign Division during the 2008 presidential election cycle campaign supporting President George W. Bush and presidential candidate John McCain. Krohn joined the RNC following two years at Yahoo! as director of content production and election strategy.
Collapse BioMorgan Wandell is a television executive and producer who has extensive experience in all aspects of content development, production, and management. Over his career, he has shepherded numerous acclaimed shows from conception to broadcast, including ABC’s family saga “Brothers and Sisters,” the award-winning comedy “Ugly Betty,” and CBS’s crime procedural “Criminal Minds.” Morgan also has held key leadership roles...
Expand BioMorgan Wandell is a television executive and producer who has extensive experience in all aspects of content development, production, and management. Over his career, he has shepherded numerous acclaimed shows from conception to broadcast, including ABC’s family saga “Brothers and Sisters,” the award-winning comedy “Ugly Betty,” and CBS’s crime procedural “Criminal Minds.” Morgan also has held key leadership roles in media companies producing cutting-edge nonfiction and new media programming.
Currently, Morgan is Head of Drama Development for Amazon Studios, Amazon.com's TV production entity.
Collapse BioGigi Wang is an experienced leader in global entrepreneurship and innovation. She is currently a Board Member & Chair Emeritus of the MITEF/Stanford Venture Lab (VLAB), and on the advisories board of US Market Access, Mobility Ventures, iGlobe Partners and several EU entrepreneurial workgroups.
Gigi Wang is an experienced leader in global entrepreneurship and innovation. She is currently a Board Member & Chair Emeritus of the MITEF/Stanford Venture Lab (VLAB), and on the advisories board of US Market Access, Mobility Ventures, iGlobe Partners and several EU entrepreneurial workgroups.
Collapse BioAdam was Executive VP of Business Development/Strategy and General Counsel of Hiwire, where he oversaw the rollout of ad insertion technology to Clear Channel, ABC Radio, MusicMatch and many other radio entities. Adam also spent several years as the CEO of 3Vision, a company that produced both feature films and videogames, and produced the award-winning documentary feature The Girl Next Door, and Fox Hunt, the...
Expand BioAdam was Executive VP of Business Development/Strategy and General Counsel of Hiwire, where he oversaw the rollout of ad insertion technology to Clear Channel, ABC Radio, MusicMatch and many other radio entities. Adam also spent several years as the CEO of 3Vision, a company that produced both feature films and videogames, and produced the award-winning documentary feature The Girl Next Door, and Fox Hunt, the first movie ever created from a videogame. He started his career as a media/technology and corporate attorney at Latham & Watkins. Mr. Berns holds a law degree and an MBA from UCLA, and a B.A. in Economics with distinction from Stanford University.
Collapse Bio1. Participation in on-air or online video experiences should be spontaneous. This means a host should be able to say on-air, "Anyone who wants to be a part of this right now, we're on Yottio, join the show!"
2. Spontaneous production means we have to automate as much of the participant selection and production process as possible.
Our platform leverages social signals, individual reputations-over-time, device and connectivity statistics to make rapid selection possible; and we automate very specific parts of the production processes that include:
1. Managing and logging user appearance consents for each show
2. On-the-fly audio patching between participants and studio
3. On-the-fly routing of IP video signals to broadcast-compatible outputs on-premise
4. Sending limited user-data to on-air graphics systems for use on-screen
All of our competition require pre-planned (non-spontaneous) identification and releases ahead of time and do not allow high-volume aggregation and screening of potential participants.
They also do not automate any of the key production processes above, which in media production makes the difference between "producible" and "not producible."
1. Voting or Tweeting to a show results usually results in less than 5-6% of audience engaging with a digital product, even for shows like "The Voice."
2. Providing the chance to be seen and heard on TV by engaging in with a digital product resulted in 26% of the audience engaging. This data was from an app called the Million Second Quiz, which our CEO led product dev on @NBC. The app itself went from launch to 1.5m registered users in under 8 weeks*, and they spent an average of 100m/month in-app for the chance to be one of seven individuals picked to be flown to the set and be on the show (*sourced from publicly available data.)
We have a few demand points that we can share:
1. We know of major studio expansions being built right now for substantial cable networks that are majority-designed around the inclusion of user-generated content, but no systems for aggregating or managing the content (live or recorded).
2. We are in direct discussions with show producers who reach over 6m viewers on a daily basis to bring Yottio to their shows.
3. The former President of of Fox Television, Sandy Grushow, joined us as an Advisor because he believes broadcasts need what we're doing.
4. We won a "Best of SPROCKIT" award at the world's largest media tools conference, NABShow in late April 2015, as voted on by the attendees, most of whom are network executives/producers/potential customers.
http://www.google.com/patents/US8819738
It is focused on the fully-managed aggregation, screening and publishing of multiple user audio/video streams and their associated data into broadcasts.