Today Nashville-based Streamweaver launched its social video platform, which lets people collaboratively film video using the Streamweaver iPhone app, and then share with their friends. The company, which has funding from the Tennessee Community Ventures Fund and Mountain Group Capital, wants to let friends film concerts, weddings, or any other event from multiple perspectives, making filming a video as social as watching one.
Mobile video startups have exploded in popularity in 2012, with startups like Viddy and Socialcam making headlines for their user base and traction (Socialcam was acquired by Autodesk in July for $60 million, Viddy raised Series A funding at a reported $300 million valuation). CEO Erik Carlson said that unlike other mobile video apps, Streamweaver is trying to make both the filming and sharing process social, so it’s not just after a video is uploaded that friends can get involved.
“We zeroed in on what is the very crowded space of mobile video apps and technology,” Carlson said. “We wanted to complete two equations that were really missing…we wanted to move past the after-party and zero in on the recording experience too, so we could create a social video experience that was social from the moment you tapped record.” The second thing Carlson felt was missing was “split-screen synchronicity,” so users can see different angles and sides to each video’s story on one screen.
The iPhone app lets users upload one-minute videos on their own, or they can invite up to three other iPhone user across the U.S. to film videos with them simultaneously. Users choose friends to invite from their address book, Facebook, or via their Streamweaver user name, and invitees get a notification that they’ve been asked to join the recording. While in recording mode, users can see which of their friends have accepted the invitation, and which ones still haven’t joined the recording session. Once the organizer hits the record button, all participants film their perspective (not everyone has to start filming at the same time, but invitees have to start recording within a minute of when the organizer starts recording).
Each individual video is uploaded to Streamweaver’s cloud platform, where they’re automatically combined into a split-screen video which users can then watch and share. Each video gets a devoted URL on Streamweaver’s website, and users can share videos via Facebook, Twitter, SMS, email, or via the URL. They don’t support adding to YouTube from the app yet, but Carlson said that’s on the roadmap.
Carlson said he envisions the app being used to record sporting events, concerts, weddings, birthday parties, and any other event that has multiple attendees. “Basically anything where you think there’s another perspective that adds another dimension to something you wanted to record,” he said. Other apps like Groovideo are targeting social video creation, though that tool is more focused on creating video messages for special occasions. And apps like Spreecast allow several people to record a video chat, but it’s focused on live chat sessions, not multi-angle event coverage.
Right now the app is only available in the U.S. App Store, though Carlson said they’ll expand to other countries based on demand. They’re also planning to debut an Android app, and said they’re open to partnering with other video platforms to bolster sharing options. Carlson said they’ll also be announcing Series A funding in the near future, and that this app is the first product of their company, which will ultimately focus on creating other products devoted to connecting different perspectives through video, something that could ultimately set it apart in the social video creation space.