SEO Werkt!

Mobile video. Hot space, right? Viddy just raised $30 million, Socialcam just sold for $60 million. But most of the big mobile video apps seem to be more focused on video consumption and building their user base than actually, you know, letting people shoot video. TapIn.tv wants to change that, with a new app that will let users instantly create and share live and on-demand video streams from their mobile phones.

Mobile video streaming is nothing really new — not even live mobile video streaming. As soon as the iPhone had a camera, there were apps out there that were hacking it to let users stream from their phones. But those apps generally required users to sign in if they wanted to share video, name the channel or stream that they’re shooting, and provide a description. With today’s generation of on-demand mobile video apps, users also have the option of adding filters, title cards, and other crap before posting video.

TapIn.tv strips that all down to just the bare necessities. You download and open the app and BOOM! you can instantly start shooting. Streams are tied to the location of the user, and immediately get posted to the TapIn.tv website.

Video quality depends on available bandwidth, with the app uploading 480p live video over WiFi, and 360p over 3G mobile networks. Videos are available through their own links, which is the same whether a viewer is watching live or on-demand. Links can be shared on Facebook or Twitter once a user has logged in, but there’s no requirement for users to do so in order to post. Users can always claim a video later, since the app establishes ownership based on the device ID, rather than a Facebook profile or other account login.

On the TapIn.tv website, users can browse through videos shot using the app based on date and location. According to co-founder David Tyler, location is important because it will allow users to compare multiple views of the same event or series of events. The idea behind the app came in part from the Occupy protests, where an app like TapIn.tv could have shown the crackdown of protesters in Zuccotti Park from different angles, for instance.

TapIn.tv is currently participating in this summer’s Y Combinator class, and the four-person team is one of the youngest groups to go through the program, with an average age of about 20. Three of the founders (David Tyler, Tyler Menezes, and Paul Cretu) met as part of Redmond High School’s robotics club, Exothermic Robotics. They met the fourth founder, Vu Tran, at StudentRND, a student hacker space in Bellevue, Washington. The team first started working on the app as part of a Seattle Startup weekend last November, when they were building it specifically for citizen journalism.

The team is working on new, interesting ways that they can visualize video events near each other, and working on finding ways to provide a way to watch videos in the app — all without ruining the experience of opening it up and shooting video.

Are you using video to connect with your audience?

Do you think 15 seconds is too short to convey your message?

Think again.

The rise of mobile users has brought new tools to help marketers connect with on-the-go consumers.

Viddy is one such tool.  It’s a relatively new social network centered on creating and sharing 15-second video clips.

Taking advantage of the rise in mobile use, Viddy is used mostly on smartphones and other mobile devices by its user base of 22 million people who create and interact with video content daily.

Since the network limits your video uploads to 15-second clips, it’s a similar experience to Twitter’s 140-character limit, ensuring your quality content is concise.

Why add Viddy to your business’s existing social media regimen?

• Video streaming has increased 93% via mobile phones from 2010 to 2011, according to Ooyala.
• Americans spend 2.7 hours a day socializing on mobile, according to Smart Insights.
• Viddy needs less maintenance as compared to other social networks like Twitter or Facebook.
• Fluid integration with Twitter, Facebook and YouTube help bolster your video content and presence on Viddy.
• There’s less competition on Viddy for getting your content seen as compared to Facebook, YouTube or Twitter because the social channel is still young.

Viddy gives your business the ability to tap into the mobile space with 15-second videos that you can upload, edit and share with your audience.

Businesses of all sizes can take advantage of what Viddy has to offer in the following eight ways.

#1: Share Your Events

Most companies host events to give potential customers an up-close view of what products or services they sell. It’s a powerful way to connect your audience to what you do best.

Using Viddy from your mobile phone or tablet can help entice viewers to attend if they’re nearby or participate even if they are far away.

Below, the clothing company Diane Von Furstenberg uses Viddy to showcase their company events and activities, which are extremely engaging for their avid supporters and fashion advocates.

Diane Von Furstenberg uses Viddy to highlight their fashion shows, charity events and parties to give an inside look to viewers. DVF planned these events in the past, but simply chose to incorporate a new level of engagement for them through the social and mobile web on Viddy.

DVF uploads a plethora of videos on Viddy, all showing a different side of the company's culture as a whole.

If you’re already spending the money for a company function, capture as much content and engagement from it as possible.

#2: Highlight Company Milestones

Every company has milestones they should celebrate and share, whether it’s the company’s fifth anniversary or the hiring of your hundredth employee. Audiences will be interested in your company’s culture if you build excitement around the occasion.

It’s important to share your success because it helps show how your company is progressing over time and lets your viewers in on your company culture. It’s engaging content that’s easy to capture on Viddy, especially since it’s already naturally happening.

General Electric was one of the first companies to post engaging content on Viddy. Their feed shows unique content that is best-suited for short video—quickly viewed and consumed.

GE is a company with a long history worth sharing. They often give their viewership on Viddy a glance at company milestones never before seen on a mobile device.

General Electric consistently uses Viddy to share company milestones and innovations behind the scenes. Look to share what's unique about your company to gain similar levels of engagement.

This Viddy below shows the GE Turboprop engine’s demo. It gives their audience a reminder that GE is on a constant path toward innovation.

#3: Share How-To’s and Quick Tips

The saying “content is king” is still true, even more so when it comes to engaging video content. Viddy allows businesses to share quick tips with their viewership at little cost and time commitment.

Whether you’re telling an audience how to wear a certain pair of jeans or how to connect with other businesses in the area, video is an extremely effective means of driving value. Once a potential customer gains value from your free content on Viddy, they’re more likely to take interest in your paid services.

Share how-to’s much like you would on YouTube or Facebook, just adapt them to the Viddy 15-second video format and include a strong call to action at the end.

“Project Runway” uses their Viddy account to introduce their cast, along with quick fashion tips. Share quick tips with your audience to help make your content on Viddy truly valuable.

#4: Drive Sales and Promotions

Promotions and sales are the driving force of many businesses, especially in regard to their online marketing channels like email. Use Viddy to let your viewers know about a particular in-store or online sale in a quick and engaging way.

Online video isn’t often thought of as the first place to announce a sale, but that only helps make your sale promoted on Viddy more memorable to those who see it.

Use the same Viddy in your email and social marketing channels to make use of your existing audiences and improve the promotion’s overall reach.

ShoeMint gives a Viddy-specific promo code at the end of every one of their videos. It's an excellent way to encourage follower growth and track use of this social network.

#5: Host Contests, Sweepstakes and Giveaways

According to a study on HubSpot, 70% of users follow social media to participate in contests or sweepstakes. Contests have proven successful on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other social networks for driving branded engagement and growing a company’s social audience. Hosting a giveaway on Viddy can be just as effective.

A contest on Viddy is centered around users uploading a video on a particular topic. Set the theme of your sweepstakes and post your own Viddy or write a blog post. Offer an enticing prize to encourage entries.

The nature of Viddy’s short uploads makes it easy for contestants to contribute, as opposed to their contribution to a video contest on other social channels.

To accurately track entries to your promotion, instruct your audience to mention your account’s username or a hashtag to officially enter the contest.

Got 15 seconds? Then you have time to enter our Southwest-themed @Viddy contest! Here’s how to enter: cot.ag/A1TboJ #SWAViddy

— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) January 13, 2012

Southwest Airlines’ incorporation of Twitter in their Viddy promotion was a vital way of increasing the visibility and engagement of their contest.

Southwest Airlines, also an early adopter of Viddy, held a contest for participants to win 2 free plane tickets if they uploaded Southwest-themed Viddys. They supported this contest on their blog and on Twitter with the #SWAViddy hashtag.

The Southwest Airlines Viddy promotion was successful in gaining the company an extensive following on the platform and high levels of participation.

It was a simple way to engage with their fans related to their business, while also growing their audience on Viddy with little cost to the organization.

Southwest Airlines' selection of Viddys range from contests to moments with company staff to content about the planes to culture and goals of the organization. Look to incorporate a diverse selection of videos on your Viddy account.

#6: Show a Glimpse Behind the Scenes

Giving your online audience a sneak peek into your company’s inner workings is one method of engaging with them more deeply than you would with text or images. The human element is an important way to give your audience a personal connection to your company.

Viddy gives your viewers a behind-the-scenes look at what makes your company tick. You’ve got quality content free in your workplace. Why not make use of it to extend your reach and make your company more relatable?

Ecko Unlimited uses their Viddy account to take their viewers behind the scenes—in this case, an up-close look at a photo shoot.

#7: Showcase Customer Testimonials

Testimonials are highly beneficial to businesses, but nothing’s more convincing than hearing the recommendation firsthand. Typically, testimonials are written in marketing case studies or wherever a company wishes to showcase them to future customers.

If your satisfied customers are willing, have them record their testimonials in a short video for you to share on Viddy. From here your small business can share your Viddy on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or your website to give further exposure to your positive PR.

#8: Innovate with Custom Filters

Viddy offers premium opportunities to businesses looking to take their presence on the social network to the next level. The partnership offers a custom production pack, which Viddy users can then add to their videos after they shoot them.

These production packs act as custom filters that help beautify and brand your videos to make them more meaningful and engaging.

SXSW chose to use a frame-like production pack for their latest interactive conference that helped brand Viddys taken at the event, looking similar to a postcard.

These premium partnerships come with a price tag, but offer a deeper level of engagement because they allow the Viddy community to alter content with a filter-like tool that’s branded for your business. This level of Viddy integration isn’t for every kind of business, but those who do take this route should plan carefully to make the most of this paid partnership.

What do you think? Are you using Viddy for your business? What value do you think it has for businesses of all sizes? Do you prefer another mobile video platform? Share your thoughts in the comments box below.

Capitalizing on a successful past few months, Viddy has launched a public API that will allow developers to use the social video service within third-party apps, the company announced today.

Viddy produces an iPhone application for shooting 15-second clips that can be enhanced with video effects called “production packs.” The startup reported massive growth back in May that brings the total number of registered users to more than 27 million, as VentureBeat previously reported. The company, which launched less than a year ago, has a star-studded list of celebrity investors, including Biz Stone, Shakira, Will Smith, and Jay-Z. But the service also has its share of notable users, such as Rihanna, Snoop Dogg, Katie Couric, Mark Zuckerberg, and an often shirtless Justin Bieber.

In addition to the API, Viddy is launching a contest that gives developers a chance to win $10,000 and an interview with Viddy for permanent employment. To gain access to the API, developers need to contact Viddy via the new developer portal.

Some have speculated that Viddy has a good chance at dethroning YouTube as the king of user-generated video, and this very well could be the case for smaller scale clips. YouTube is currently focused on the bigger picture, which includes enhancing the site’s content to the caliber found on cable television. So Viddy, especially with its new API, certainly has an opportunity to become a powerful force if it continues growing.

Founded in 2011, the Venice, Calif.-based startup has previously raised a total of $36 million in funding from Battery Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Greycroft Partners, and others.

Filed under: media, social

Viddy, the social video sharing site that has blown up over the past few months thanks to viral spread on Facebook, has opened up its API and is enticing developers to build on top of the Viddy platform with a $10,000 prize.
continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Screenshots surfaced Thursday afternoon suggest that Facebook, in attempt to make its Open Graph platform more of a boon to application developers, is actively experimenting with a potentially more engaging format for app stories posted to members’ New Feeds.

The screenshots, first uncovered by Inside Facebook, reveal a striking News Feed layout that features a user’s third-party app content in large boxed containers that allow for likes, comments, and other actions on each item.

The layout, pictured right, seems to provide ample and extra News Feed real estate to content shared from third-party applications, and even encourages viewers to engage with the auto-posted stories.

“We’re always testing new Platform features, but we have nothing further to announce,” a Facebook spokesperson told VentureBeat.

Facebook’s Open Graph platform has been the gift that keeps on giving to many a developer. The platform helps app makers reach more people through app-to-Facebook integrations, and story placement in users’ News Feeds, Timelines, and Tickers. It has even been credited with the success of video apps such as SocialCam, just acquired by Autodesk, and Viddy.

The social network recently spotlighted the growth of camera applications such as Cinemagram, Hipstamatic, and Instagram, a Facebook property in waiting. “On both iOS and Android, Instagram also launched built-in Like action at the end of June and now one-third of all of its Open Graph actions are Likes, boosting mobile referral traffic 10%,” the company said.

The extremely addicting music recognition game SongPop has also climbed the charts thanks to Facebook. Specifically, Open Graph activity drove 20 million clicks to SongPop. The app’s active user base leapt from 5,000 monthly active users to 7 million in just six weeks.

The alterations were seeing today are likely meant to test whether Facebook can bump the traffic it sends to its application developers even higher with a fresh design.

Photo credits: Shutterstock, Inside Facebook

Filed under: social

With mobile video being all the rage, multiple startups have emerged to make it easier to shoot and share videos with friends. Following on this trends a small team within DreamWorks Animation has assembled to create an app called Ptch with a unique value proposition: Users create interesting, shareable videos with the app. But they can also share those videos and open them up so that others can remix and mash them up.

Ptch isn’t just about taking a single video, throwing a filter on it and tossing it on the social networks, like Socialcam or Viddy. Nor is it about selecting a bunch of media and having a video automatically pieced together, like Animoto. Ptch users have to do a little work to piece together their videos. However, the results end up being much better than most other mobile video tools out there.

The app is built around a really easy drag-and-drop experience to enable users to quickly piece together photos and video assets to their, um, Ptches. It works like this: Users select media from their camera roll or from networks like Instagram, Google+, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter and Viddy. They can then drag and drop those assets into whatever order they like, add captions, and select from different “themes” to spice up their video. Users can even select from a wide range of licensed music to add to their Ptch. The app then does the hard work of stitching those assets together into a video, which they can share on Facebook, Twitter, or within the app itself.

Ptch is the brainchild of DreamWorks Animation CTO Ed Leonard, who has taken the helm as CEO of the startup within DreamWorks. And that’s how it’s being run — like a startup. While the 20-person Ptch team includes some DreamWorks employees who bring expertise around advanced video rendering and other features, about two-third of the people working on the app were recruited from outside the film studio, from companies like Yahoo and Myspace.

When demoing the app, Leonard told that Ptch was created to inspire a type of “living media,” which will allow users to remix each others videos. Users have the option of making their media available to others, who can play with their individual assets and mash them up to make new movies. The idea is in part to enable friends and people with shared experiences to tell stories with each other and re-use popular assets that define moments they were a part of. (Don’t worry, for those less adventurous, there’s always the option of “locking” videos so that people can’t mess with your media.)

The app is free, and the team hopes to make money off of microtransactions, as people will pay for different themes to express themselves. There’s also the possibility of using the app for co-marketing of major events or brands using it to build campaigns around their products. That said, it’s such a small, experimental part of DreamWorks Animation right now that Leonard and team aren’t really focused on the monetization aspect — just, you know, getting the app out there and in the hands of users, and seeing what they do with it.

While the race is on to create a popular mobile video sharing equivalent to Instagram, Ptch, a free app launching today backed by DreamWorks Animation, is taking mobile media sharing a step further.

Instead of just focusing on pictures or video, Ptch lets you remix the media on your phone and social feeds to create a minute-long mashup that can be easily shared. Like Instagram and the plethora of photo filtering apps out there, Ptch offers different styles to give your mashups their own unique look.

You can think of Ptchs as short music videos made out of media on your device and Web services like Instagram, Viddy, and Twitter. The company calls Ptchs “living media,” since anyone who receives a Ptch can also remix it further to their liking.

“We’ve built a product that’s trying to really address a significant gap in the market, the ability for broad consumers to creat interesting content in fun and fast ways,” Ptch CEO (and former DreamWorks CTO) Ed Leonard told VentureBeat in an interview this week. He made it clear that Ptch isn’t trying to replace the existing services users love, instead it’s trying to give people a new and interesting way to share their media.

Ptchs can resemble anything from a slideshow with photos, to a well-produced segment that’s mostly video. The app sports a clean and intuitive interface that should make it easy for anyone, from kids to the tech-savvy, to create their own bits of content easily.

Leonard, who was DreamWorks’ CTO for ten years, said the idea for Ptch came about when DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg asked his team last year to come up with ways to grow new businesses. The goal was to leverage innovation from within DreamWorks, which has thus far been entirely focused on creating films. So, aiming to do something different, Leonard formed a separate company to follow through with the Ptch idea.

The company has been working in stealth mode fort the last 9 months and has 20 employees (15 full-time and 5 consultants). About a third of the employees at Ptch came from DreamWorks, while the remaining two-thirds includes a who’s who of outside talent. Among them, there’s chief operating officer David Geller, who previously headed up Yahoo’s popular Fantasy Sports division.

Ptch is available for the iPhone 4 and 4S, but it isn’t yet optimized for the iPad. Leonard tells me the company is working on scaling out to other platforms, including a more robust Web version. Eventually, he imagines the company could offer items for sale on the Ptch platform, perhaps with an open marketplace for additional styles.

Ptch hasn’t brought in any investors outside of DreamWorks yet. Instead, Leonard says the company wanted to get some traction and then strategically bring in partners.

Filed under: media, mobile, VentureBeat

There’s no shortage of ‘social/mobile/location-based’ video sharing apps out there, which will let you take a video and maybe slap a filter on it and share what you’re doing with people nearby and show off how friggin cool you are. Think Socialcam/Viddy/Klip/etc. But how social is that, really?

Well how about this: What if you could actually make videos that were TRULY social, that combined elements from videos that you’ve shot, as well as those from your friends and other people nearby? What if you could instantly mash up, remix, and share those videos with people on other social networks? That’s the kind of experience that the makers of the Vyclone iPhone app have created.

Vyclone takes advantage of location data to determine who you’re nearby while you’re shooting video in its app. It then matches that video against other users nearby. The app allows the creation of videos using up to four different camera angles at once, and includes the ability to switch between filters to provide different effects. Once videos are shot and uploaded to the server, the app syncs them up based on the timestamp and then stitches them together randomly, keeping the audio track of one of the videos.

One of the cool things is that Vyclone can be used even when you don’t have WiFi or a good wireless connection. While it’s nice to get the sort of instant gratification that comes from instantly uploading videos and having mashups created on the fly, the app works even when videos aren’t available in real-time. It merely checks the location and timestamp of available videos, regardless of when they’re uploaded. That means that you could add them days later, and Vyclone would still make new mixes based on new assets.

Once created, Vyclone has all the usual viewing and sharing options you’ve come to expect from these types of apps: You can share on Facebook or Twitter or save to your camera roll. Then, it can also be uploaded to YouTube. Users can also watch videos shared by other users inside the app, tag friends and events, comment on videos, and follow other users.

So I’ve taken a lot of video apps for a spin in my day, and I have to say that in my limited test run, Vyclone is seriously one of the coolest apps I’ve ever tried out. I used with a friend it last weekend during an event in Oakland, and captured video from an event in which a music video was being filmed.* This was the final result, as shot from two different camera angles while screwing around with filters:

Concerts and music festivals are an obvious use case for this type of video app, but users could also use it at sporting events and even in smaller groups. Think about capturing different angles at a birthday party or wedding, maybe? Anyway, the app currently supports just four videos being mixed today, but the founders tell me that the backend is infinitely scalable — which means that it could potentially mash up dozens of videos, like at a big Jason Mraz concert or whatnot.

Speaking of, the founders include Joe Summer, musician and Chief Creative Officer (and Sting’s son), who dreamed up the idea. He tapped his good friend David King Lassman, CEO of Vyclone, to help execute on the plan. The company has an office in Los Angeles and a development team in London building the app. Vyclone has raised $2.7 million in seed funding from investors that include Ashton Kutcher’s A-GRade Investments, Live Nation, DWA Investments, and Thrive Capital.

==
* Yes, those are women punching at each other with gigantic blowup boxing gloves. The event was entitled Foxy Boxing, and the artist featured here is Big Freedia, Queen Diva and New Orleans bounce music extraordinaire. What can I say, I do stupid shit on the weekends.

Funding news flooded our wire today with so many announcements and releases, it was like swimming upstream in a hurricane to keep up with it all. We had to include a lightening round just to cover the bases! Grab a life vest, a paddle, and check out what happened today in the maelstrom of the investment world.

Kiip keeps on trucking with $11M in new investment

Rewards network Kiip announced today that it closed $11 million in a second round of investment. The funding will go towards expanding Kiip’s rewards system beyond gaming, infusing ‘moments of happiness’ into everyday life. Kiip works with game developers, brands, and users to reward gaming achievements with tangible products.  The money will go towards doubling the team, which currently consists of 30 people. The round was spearheaded by Relay Ventures with participation from previous investors True Ventures and Hummer Winbland. Read more on VentureBeat.

Egnyte gets $16M spark from Google Ventures, KPCB, & Polaris

Enterprise cloud storage startup Egnyte has raised $16 million from Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Polaris Venture Partners in its third round of funding, the company announced today. Egnyte helps businesses with various hybrid cloud storage solutions and competes with Box, Nirvanix, Zetta, and others. Through increased marketing efforts and a smart anti-Box campaign, the company has attracted more attention and now has 1 million users across 30,000 paying companies. Read more on VentureBeat.

Socialcam acquired for $60M…which would have seemed more impressive pre-Instagram 

Software company Autodesk acquired quickly growing video app Socialcam for $60 million, the company announced Tuesday. Socialcam is currently the most popular application on Facebook, with about 54.7 million monthly active users.  It strives to be the next “Instagram for video” along with rivals Viddy and Klip. While this buy out is shy of Instagram’s $1 billion price tag, it is nothing to sneeze at. The money ought to cover the 4 employees’ needs, at least for awhile. Read more on VentureBeat.

Samsung treats itself  to British chip-maker CSR for $310M 

Feeling flush from smartphone sales, Samsung did a little shopping and picked up British chip designer CSR’s mobile platform for the price of $310 million. With this cash deal, Samsung gets access to CSR’s mobile connectivity and location technology, along with 310 employees. Samsung is also shelling out $35 million for a 4.9 percent stake in CSR as a whole. The move gives Samsung access to 21 new U.S. mobile technology patents, all of which will be valuable tools in Samsung’s ongoing patent battles. Maybe the next item on Samsung’s shopping list should be a sword. Read more on VentureBeat.

Aryaka raises $25M to turn surfing the web into Formula 1

Cloud startup Aryaka raised $25 million to help companies operate more efficiently by speeding up internet processes. This service is called WAN Optimization, and enables data exchange, communication, and applications to function harder, better, faster, stronger [cue Kanye].The latest funding round was oversubscribed, and led by InterWest Partners with participation from Presidio Ventures and existing investors Nexus Venture Partners, Trinity Ventures and Mohr Davidow Ventures. It follows two previous funding rounds of $14 million in initial investment and $15 million a second round. Read more on VentureBeat.

TiVO spends $20M to discover why no-one uses TiVO anymore 

As part of its struggle to stay relevant amidst the ever-growing number of set-top boxes, smart TVs, and rising streaming video viewership, TiVO bought television analytics platform TRA for $20 million. TRA’s platform essentially matches the purchase activity from households with what those households watch on television. TiVo plans to integrate the TRA platform into a new TiVo Research and Analytics unit, which could offer metrics and insights useful to advertisers that want to get the most for their money. TiVo’s acquisition of TRA is expected to close later this month, according to the company. Read more on VentureBeat.

Eager beaver Loggly rakes in $5.7M for log management

Online log management company Loggly announced today that it’s secured $5.7 million in a second round of investment. Log management is a service that takes large volumes of data from companies and transforms it into interpretable form. Loggly’s cloud-based platform serves major companies like Symantec, AirBnB, Heroku, Intuit, the BBC and Electronic Arts. This impressive client roster probably did less to bring in investment than the adorable company mascot, of Hoover the beaver.

Whatever the motivation, the recent round of funding will go toward expanding the 18 member staff and boosting infrastructure to accommodate ever-growing volumes of data. This money brings Loggly’s total funding to $10.4 million. It is backed by True Ventures, Trinity Ventures, and most recently,Matrix Partners. Read more on VentureBeat.

Totsy puts $18.5M into its kiddie pool (floaties not included)

Totsy, an ecommerce site dedicated to offering deals for parents, babies, and kids raised $18.5 million in its second round of financing. The site features major brand names, like Disney, Thomas the Tank Engine, and Zutano, at a reduced cost. The discounts are available for a limited time, with the average sale lasting around three days.The company is growing and expects to become profitable by the end of the year. It currently has 3 million active users and was featured in Forbes last year as one of the most promising private companies in the US. The recent investment was led by Rho Ventures and DFJ Gotham, both New York based capital firms, and follows a first institutional round of $5 million from 2010. Read more on VentureBeat.

To the Batt Cave! IntelliBatt raises almost as much money as Bruce Wayne

IntelliBatt secured a $22 million equity investment from Columbia Capital, with participation from CBC-Capital, to fuel the company’s growth and expand its product line. IntelliBatt provides a monitoring system for large power supplies and batteries. Data centers and commercial operations use this system to ensure they maintain mission critical power. The technology provides constant monitoring, data analysis and support to predict and pre-empt failure.

Formerly known as Data Power Monitoring Corporation, IntelliBatt has been around since 2006. Some of its major customers include Barclays, Charles Schwab, Qwest Communications and Equinix. It is headquartered in San Rafael, CA. Read the press release.

And now for the lightening round…

RedMere Technology Limited and Fresco Microchip partnered to create Spectra7 Microsystems, backed by $10 million in new equity from Celtic House Venture Partners, EdgeStone Capital Partners, and Ventures West. Read the press release.

Cloud migration company Racemi announced $7 million in Series B round to further developer its software that migrates workloads to the cloud. Read the press release.

Mobile commerce platform provider Tapingo raised $3.5 million in its first round of funding from Carmel Ventures. Tapingo enables students to use their phones to order and pay for food and other goods at college campuses. Read the press release.

Israeli startup Promodity has raised $1.5 million in angel funding to centralize and automate marketing. The company promises to bring the equivalent of Salesforce to marketers, so they can manage online campaigns and increase conversion rates in one place. Read the press release.

Mobile social media innovator Audingo acquired $3M in angel funding to launch its platform nationwide. The platform enables users to hear directly from choice organizations and personalities with personalized audio and video messages in the form of calls, texts or emails. Read the press release.

“Whew”

Filed under: deals, VentureBeat

Software company Autodesk has agreed to buy quickly growing video app Socialcam for $60 million, the company announced Tuesday.

Socialcam, along with video sharing rivals Viddy and Klip, aims to be the next “Instagram for video,” but the startup’s buy offer is considerably less than Instagram’s $1 billion acquisition offer. That said, Socialcam launched just 18 months ago as a part of Justin.tv, and then split into its own organization last August. $60 million for 18 months of hard work isn’t too shabby.

“Socialcam shares Autodesk’s mission of helping everybody imagine, design, and create a better world,” said Socialcam CEO and founder Michael Seibel, in a statement. “Autodesk has a proven track record of acquiring and scaling fast-growing, early stage consumer businesses while staying true to their core audience and vision. With products like Pixlr, SketchBook and 123D, Autodesk is empowering creativity in millions around the world by making their award-winning technology accessible to everybody. We’re excited to join them and introduce this global community to simple video creation, editing and sharing.”

Socialcam is currently the most popular application on Facebook, with about 54.7 million monthly active users, with TripAdvisor and Yahoo Social Bar in second and third. While Socialcam has that coveted No. 1 spot, its active number of users is now trending down, which might explain why Autodesk offered just $60 million. However, social video apps overall do appear to be rising in popularity and could become a problem for YouTube.

Photo credit: Socialcam

Filed under: deals, mobile, social