KC tech firm’s video app records $600K
July 14, 2015 | Bobby Burch
A local tech firm is planning to accelerate development of its mobile video application thanks to some new funding.
Laura Steward
Kansas City-based Digital Legacy landed $600,000 in May to fund the creation of its “VideoFizz” app, which allows a group of users to collaborate on a personalized video message for birthdays, anniversaries and other special events. Missouri Technology Corporation offered $200,000 in a matching grant in the round, which also included a Kansas City angel investor and other private investors.
Digital Legacy CEO Laura Steward said the app is a new approach for the company that’s been quickly gaining traction.
“It really fills a gap right now,” Steward said. “People want to do something personalized and creative but they don’t have a lot of time. We’ve reduced ourselves to just saying ‘happy birthday’ on Facebook, and this is so much more fun and just as easy to do.”
After downloading Video Fizz, a user may pay to create a collaborative video and send an invitation to others to record themselves. After users submit their respective videos, Video Fizz combines them and allows the purchaser to arrange clips and apply one of 16 themes.
The videos are used for such events as birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, graduations and others. Steward said that the Video Fizz app will be available on iOS and Android devices in September.
“This is a very simple way to give something personal through technology,” she said. “People get so creative with them. There’s no way to take your personality out of it.”
Digital Legacy previously focused its efforts on LiveOn, a social media platform that allows you to digitize media and create digital time capsules. While it still offers the services, the company will be focusing more on Video Fizz.
Previously an executive in the genetics industry, Steward currently is in the Pipeline Entrepreneurial Fellowship program, which taps the experience and network of powerful entrepreneurs in the region. She said the program has been invaluable to Digital Legacy, particularly as its focus has shifted.
“If I hadn’t had Pipeline I probably wouldn’t have figured this out,” Steward said. “This (change in focus) really came from a market validation exercise that we did in the fellowship program. … If I hadn’t had that program I could’ve spent two years trying to figure out what people wanted.”
To learn more about Video Fizz, click here.
2015 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Peek inside: Wild Way coffee rolling Austin flavor onto Kansas City’s bean scene
Christine Clutton is taking the rollout of her Wild Way coffee camper concept one cup at a time, she said. Debuting Friday in Midtown, the mobile shop — serving coffee, tea and pastries with a mix of Austin and local flavors — is envisioned as a temporary stop on Clutton’s entrepreneurial journey, she said. “Our…
Nonprofit Village in Midtown aims to cut costs, attack basic needs for mission-based groups
An area investment firm has opened a new collaborative working space to help support Kansas City’s vast network of nonprofits. Led by Jon McGraw and Mehgan Flynn, 31w31 investment group launched the Nonprofit Village, a 6,300-square-foot space at the recently-renovated historic building at 31 W. 31st St. The village hopes to soothe the pervasive challenge…
Merchtable powers a chorus of online stores for emerging bands, artists
Lawrence-based Merchtable plays the tune of an accidental tech company, said co-founder Burton Parker, but it’s proven to be a song of success. Operating 200 online merch stores for such varied artists as singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, comedian Maria Bamford, avant-garde metal band Neurosis, and a host of podcast, DJ, dance and EDM clients, the business…
Made in KC launching Country Club Plaza marketplace with taproom, food, makers
A new Made in Kansas City retail concept on the Country Club Plaza will offer local makers and food vendors space to grow their product lines, as well as a prominent showcase in one the city’s busiest shopping destinations, said Made in KC co-founder Tyler Enders. “The whole goal of this — which we feel…