• Wibbitz

  Participated · Series C · Oct 2017

  Wibbitz builds an AI platform that automatically creates short videos from text news stories. Its technology is designed to supplement publishers' existing video teams by producing large quantities of low-cost videos while humans focus on higher-end work. The company aims to make its videos indistinguishable from human-created content and says publishers are increasingly open to AI for content creation. Wibbitz began a major push into the U.S. two years ago and has added partners including Bloomberg, Cox Media Group and The Weather Channel. It has raised a total of $30.8M to date, and the latest funding is earmarked to hire across the board, expand globally and improve its AI and automation. Co-founder and CEO Zohar Dayan framed the new round as a testament to the value the technology brings to large media companies. Wibbitz provides publishers with a text-to-video platform designed to increase video inventory and monetize their content with pre-roll ad space. Founded in 2011 by CEO Zohar Dayan, the company is based in Tel Aviv and New York City and maintains R&D and engineering teams in Israel. Wibbitz is launching a B2B platform and developing new features to expand its publisher services. It has invested in a comprehensive Control-Room solution that gives publishers editorial control over branding, visual components and the option for human voiceover. The company plans to expand into the U.S. market and will grow its business development, sales, marketing and editorial teams, aiming to hire about 20 new employees. Financially, Wibbitz raised $8m in a Series B round to fund these expansion and product efforts. Wibbitz provides a text-to-video service that converts article text into shareable HTML5 video summaries using images from its library or public Creative Commons image banks. Publishers implement Wibbitz with a single line of JavaScript and viewers can share videos to Facebook and Twitter or embed them elsewhere. The company has introduced a one-click video-creation solution and says it has improved its algorithms and player since launch. Wibbitz reports that more than 20,000 sites have generated videos (up from 1,600 in a private beta). The service supports monetization through pre-roll advertising, and the company says traction and ad performance are growing but declined to provide specific metrics. With new funding, Wibbitz plans to commercialize the technology further, expand R&D in Israel, and open offices in NYC; it is developing a premium publisher solution for scalable video creation. Wibbitz provides an automated service that converts an article's text into concise video summaries combining text, images and audio narration. The product is implemented with a single line of JavaScript and pulls images from the publisher's library or Creative Commons sources. The player supports both Flash and a mobile-friendly HTML5 interface and produces videos that can be shared to Facebook, Twitter or embedded elsewhere. Wibbitz was testing a more basic form of the service with about 1,600 sites in private beta and began accepting registrations for the newer player. The company plans a freemium pricing model with larger publishers billed by usage and an option for publishers to monetize via short pre-roll ads. Wibbitz was founded by Zohar Dayan and Yotam Cohen and is based in Tel Aviv.

• CornerJob

  Participated · Series C · May 2017

  CornerJob is a mobile recruitment platform that connects employers and jobseekers for skilled and hourly roles across Italy, France, Spain and Mexico. Launched in October 2015 by David Rodriguez, Miguel Vicente, Gerard Olivé and Mauro Maltagliati, the company operates offices in Barcelona, Paris, Milan, Madrid and Mexico City. Its app has reached 8 million downloads and more than 200,000 companies use the platform to publish job ads. Clients span industries including HoReCa, tourism, retail, construction, public sector, SMEs and blue‑chip companies such as Adecco, Eataly, Geox, Amnesty International, Generali, Manpower and McDonald’s. CornerJob intends to use the new funding to expand its leadership in digital recruitment across its operating countries. To date the company has raised over $57m, including a $19m funding announced in May 2017. CornerJob operates a lightweight mobile app for location-based job advertising, shortlisting and chat aimed at low-skill, high-turnover recruitment. It is building employer-facing SaaS tools to speed hiring and monetize via successful hires, and is investing in machine learning and productivity features such as 'flash questions', reviews/ratings and transactional services developed with Randstad. The company says it focuses on improving candidate experience while adding transparency on candidate and company behavior. CornerJob is active in France, Italy, Spain and Mexico and is eyeing expansion into an unnamed European market and the US. It reports 700k shortlistings per month (growing at an average compound monthly rate of 30%), 150,000 registered companies, 74% repeat listers monthly, and job listers growing 10% month-over-month. The new funding will be used for product development, reinforcing strategic markets and geographic expansion. CornerJob operates an Android and iOS jobs marketplace app that lets users create a profile, search and apply for full-time, part-time and student jobs, and chat with companies to clarify their profile. The app is active in Spain, France, UK and Mexico. The company was co-founded by Miguel Vicente, Gerard Olivé, David Rodriguez and Mauro Maltagliati. CornerJob said it will use the new funding to continue expanding operations, including growth in Mexico. The raise includes a media-for-equity component aimed specifically at expansion in Mexico. No revenue or user metrics were disclosed in the article. Cornerjob is a mobile application that helps non-executive workers find jobs across sectors such as hospitality, retail, industry, construction and sales. The app was created about a year earlier by Miguel Vicente, Gerard Olivé, Mauro Maltagliati and David Rodríguez within Antai Venture Builder. It leads in Italy and France and is expanding into Spain and Mexico. Cornerjob reports growth of roughly half a million downloads per month and about 20,000 new job offers appearing in the app. The company employed around 70 people and planned to invest the new funds in technology to become a one-stop recruiting solution for non-executive profiles and to strengthen its positions in core markets.

• Studio71

  Led · Equity · Jan 2017

  Studio71 is ProSiebenSat.1 Group’s global premium multi-channel network and a leading producer and distributor of short-form digital video for creators and brands. Its roster includes top creators such as Lilly Singh, Rhett & Link, Logan Paul and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and it has distribution deals with platforms like Facebook, YouTube Red and others. The company operates roughly 1,200 channels and generates more than six billion monthly YouTube views, representing about 19% of Google Preferred inventory and ranking as the fourth-largest MCN globally. Studio71 develops, produces and distributes original programming across social media, television and film and offers branded-content and media-sales services. It is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in Berlin, New York, Toronto and London. The company plans to use new funding to finance additional premium content and IP and to expand into new territories, notably France and Italy. Collective Digital Studio (CDS) operates one of the leading YouTube multichannel networks with over 600 channels delivering nearly a billion views a month. The company produces and distributes digital-first programming (notably Video Game High School) and television shows for franchises including The Annoying Orange, Epic Meal Time and FЯED. CDS also runs branded content initiatives for Fortune 200 clients such as Verizon, Dodge, Estée Lauder, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Toyota and Sony PlayStation. It pioneered the distribution of premium online content to television and maintains offices in New York, Los Angeles, Detroit and San Francisco. CDS is a subsidiary of Collective Management Group, which is owned by the founders and GF Capital Private Equity Fund, LP. Following a strategic minority investment by ProSiebenSat.1/Red Arrow, CDS plans to monetize global reach, tap Red Arrow’s distribution, cooperate on technology and business intelligence, and expand content verticals and talent opportunities.

No current team members are available.