Successful VideoFizz campaign supports breast cancer awareness, research
October 18, 2016 | Meghan LeVota
One Kansas City startup is recognizing breast cancer awareness month through a promotion to support the American Breast Cancer Foundation.
Laura Steward
This October, VideoFizz is encouraging users to create a video on their platform to let someone special know you are “pinking” of them, raising awareness and support for the foundation. Whether it’s celebrating survival, uplifting a patient or honoring a family member, the video is free to make and encourages donations to the foundation.
Available on iOS and Android devices, VideoFizz is an app that enables collaboration to make personalized video messages for celebrations or special occasions. It allows users to edit a video, add animation and background music and then share it with friends.
Donations are optional for the October campaign, but for those who give, a breast cancer awareness ribbon and an “I donated” watermark will appear on the bottom of the video.
The campaign already has scored success, VideoFizz founder Laura Steward said. In addition to a half dozen TV appearances around the nation, the app was downloaded more than 2,000 times over the weekend of Oct. 14 alone.
Steward said the cause hits close to home. Inspired by the success of a “cancer sucks” video she made for a friend, it occurred to her that she should try to uplift more patients with her video app. She also worked in oncology and genomic sequencing for 17 years.
“It’s been really exciting to have the opportunity to learn more about our platform while at the same time helping out another organization,” Steward said. “I think it’ll be interesting to do more philanthropic work and that we’ll have more opportunities to do so in the future. … Cancer is a cause I am very passionate about.”
Sporting Kansas City has asked fans to submit “pinking of you” videos. Along with videos of the athletes, select fan-submitted videos will be shown at halftime during Sunday’s game against the San Jose Earthquakes.
Video Fizz was among 10 startups to win a $50,000 LaunchKC grant during the 2015 Techweek Kansas City. The company has raised more than $1.2 million in capital. Check out the video below to learn how VideoFizz works.
Featured Business
2016 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
KC’s ‘Horn Doctor’ handcrafts jazz preservation, keeping soul, tradition alive on Vine Street
Across the historic intersection at Kansas City’s 12th and Vine streets, B.A.C. Musical Instruments operates as one of the few remaining American factories handcrafting professional brass instruments. “This is where all the musicians would hang out back in the day,” said founder Mike “Horn Doctor” Corrigan, gesturing toward the Paseo sunken garden beside his shop.…
Autotech startup revs after patent stall; signature tech removes emissions, waste from diesel logistics
Fresh fuel is pumping into NORDEF after the Kansas City autotech company finally received patent approval for its signature product, co-founder William Walls said, pushing the pedal on its mission to disrupt the automotive fluid industry. Four years after applying for a provisional patent for its technology to produce diesel exhaust fluid on-demand — and…
rOOTS KC grows into third location, planting shop in River Market ahead of World Cup
Initially setting its roots as a pop-up plant shop in 2020, Dee Ferguson’s leafy business has grown to three Kansas City locations. The secret is in the soil, she said, describing a strategy for cultivating customers through free, evergreen plant care support and “community-rooted spirit.” [pullquote] The name rOOTS comes from Dee Ferguson’s surname: Oots.…
Summer funding pushes CarePilot to team hires, AI accolades, healthtech product launch
Fresh off its summer capital infusion, a Kansas City-built AI startup that helps doctors focus on patients instead of administrative tasks is earning industry recognition and dropping another new product, said Joseph Tutera, sharing credit for the milestones with behind-the-scenes talent. “We have a young team and they don’t have the encumbrance of a prior…