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Magisto

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Magisto
IndustryVideo editing and video marketing
Founded2009; 16 years ago (2009)
Founder
  • Oren Boiman
  • Alex Rav-Acha
Defunct2019; 6 years ago (2019)
FateAcquired by Vimeo and shut down
HeadquartersMountain View, California,
U.S.
Products
  • Magisto Web Online Video Editor
  • Magisto Mobile App Video Editor
ParentVimeo

Magisto provided an online video editing tool (both as a web application and a mobile app) for automated video editing and production. In 2019, the company was acquired by Vimeo for an estimated US$200 million.

The Magisto app contained a library of music. The music, largely by independent artists, was sorted by mood and is licensed for in-app use.

Magisto had a freemium business model where users can create basic video clips for free. In addition, advanced business, professional and personal service tiers are available via various subscription plans, unlocking more features; such as longer videos, HD, premium themes, customization, and control features.

History

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Magisto was founded in 2009 as SightEra (LTD) by Oren Boiman (CEO) and Alex Rav-Acha (CTO). Boiman, frustrated with the amount of time it took editing together videos of his daughter, wanted an easier to use application to capture and share videos. Boiman, a computer scientist that graduated from Tel Aviv University, followed with graduate work in computer vision at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Boiman developed several patent-pending image analysis technologies that analyze unedited videos to identify the most interesting parts.[1] The system recognized faces, animals, landscapes, action sequences, movements and other important content within the video, as well as analyzing speech and audio. These scenes are then edited together, along with music and effects.[2][3]

Magisto was launched publicly on September 20, 2011, as a video editing software web application through which users could upload unedited video footage, choose a title and soundtrack and have their video edited for them automatically.[4] On the following day, Magisto was added to YouTube Create's collection of video production applications.[5]

The Magisto iPhone app was launched publicly at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. At CES, the company was also awarded first place in the 2012 CES Mobile App Showdown.[6] In August 2012, Magisto launched the Android app on Google Play.[7][8] In September 2012, Magisto launched a Google Chrome App and announced Google Drive integration.[9]

In March 2013, Magisto claimed it had 5 million users.[10] Google listed Magisto as an "Editors’ Choice" on its list of "Best Apps of 2013".[11]

In September 2013, the company claimed that 10 million users had downloaded the App.[12]

In February 2014, Magisto claimed that they had 20 million users, with 2 million new users per month.[13]

The company also confirmed investment from Mail.Ru.[14]

In September 2014, Magisto rolled out a feature called 'Instagram Ready' which allowed users to upload 15 second clips that are automatically formatted for Instagram.[15]

In the same month, Magisto launched a feature for iOS and Android users, called 'Surprise Me', which created video from still photography on users’ smartphones.[16]

In October 2014, Magisto was placed 9th on the 2014 Deloitte Israel Technology Fast 50 list and named as a finalist in the Red Herring's Top 100 Europe award.[17]

In July 2015, Magisto released an editing theme dedicated to Jerry Garcia.[18][19]

In April 2019, the company was acquired by Vimeo, the IAC-owned platform for hosting, sharing and monetizing streamed video, for an estimated $200 million.[20][21]

Financing

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In 2011, the company received more than $5.5 million in a Series B venture round funding from Magma Venture Partners and Horizons Ventures.[22]

In September 2011, at the same time as the public launch of their web application, Magisto announced a $5.5 million Series B funding round led by Li Ka-shing’s Horizons Ventures. Li Ka-Shing is known for making early-stage investments in companies like Facebook, Spotify, SecondMarket and Siri.[23]

In October 2013, the company received $13 million in funding from Qualcomm and Sandisk.[24]

In 2014, the company received $2 million in Venture Funding from Magma Venture Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, Horizons Ventures and the Mail.Ru Group.[25][26]

Awards

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  • Magisto won first place at Technonomy3, an annual Internet Technology start-up competition in Israel. Judges of the competition included Jeff Pulver, TechCrunch editor Mike Butcher, investor Yaron Samid, Bessemer Venture Partners Israel partner Adam Fisher and Brad McCarty of The Next Web.[27]
  • Magisto won first place at CES 2012 Mobile app competition, during the launch of Magisto iOS mobile app.[6]
  • Magisto was awarded twice the Google Play Editor's Choice and was part of iPhone App Store Best App awards for 2013 and 2014, and Wired Essential iPad Apps.[28]
  • Magisto was declared by Deloitte as the 7th fastest growing company in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa in 2016.[29]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Stuart, S.C. (September 23, 2016). "Why Wannabe Filmmakers Should Check Out Magisto". PC Magazine.
  2. ^ Locke, Laura (September 20, 2011). "Magisto automates online video editing for you". CNET.
  3. ^ Van Grove, Jennifer (September 20, 2011). "Automated Video Editing Site Makes Movie Magic Out of Raw Footage". Mashable.
  4. ^ Wauters, Robin (September 20, 2011). "Magisto raises $5.5M for automatic video editing tool". TechCrunch.
  5. ^ Mistry, Shenaz Zack (September 21, 2011). "Additional Creator Tools from YouTube". YouTube.
  6. ^ a b Cabebe, Jaymar (January 12, 2012). "Magisto is magic at CES Mobile Apps Showdown". CNET.
  7. ^ Lawler, Ryan (August 28, 2012). "With More Than 1 Million iOS Users, Magisto Brings Its Mobile Video Editing App To Android Devices". TechCrunch.
  8. ^ "Magisto Brings Its Magic To Android" (Press release). PR Newswire. August 28, 2012.
  9. ^ Velazco, Chris (September 13, 2012). "Magisto Reveals Google Drive Integration For Its Automatic Video Editing Tool". TechCrunch.
  10. ^ "Magisto Hits Milestone of 5 Million Users With 1 Million Downloads in the Last Month" (Press release). PR Newswire. March 7, 2013.
  11. ^ Okpala, Izunna (April 25, 2014). "GadgetsCreate And Edit Videos For Your Android Smartphone With Magisto". Information Stash.
  12. ^ Cheredar, Tom (September 19, 2013). "With 10M users, Magisto's automatic moviemaker app commands the ad potential of a cable TV show". VentureBeat.
  13. ^ "Magisto Continues Its Juggernaut Through Mobile Video: Announces Investment From Russian Internet Giant Mail.Ru Group; Doubles Registrants To 20mm Users". PR Newswire. February 21, 2014.
  14. ^ Chapman, Lizette (21 February 2014). "Mail.Ru Backs Video-Editing Startup Magisto". The Wall Street Journal.
  15. ^ Sawers, Paul (September 10, 2014). "Magisto for Android now lets you assemble 15-second videos to share on Instagram". The Next Web.
  16. ^ Sawers, Paul (September 10, 2014). "Magisto for Android now lets you assemble 15-second videos to share on Instagram". The Next Web.
  17. ^ Solomon, Shoshanna (29 November 2016). "Magisto leads Deloitte Israel Fast50 tech ranking". The Times of Israel.
  18. ^ "Magisto Launches Jerry Garcia Editing Theme To Commemorate The Release Of Jerry Garcia Band - On Broadway Act One: October 28th, 1987 3CD Set" (Press release). PR Newswire. July 1, 2015.
  19. ^ Blistein, Jon (2 July 2015). "Jerry Garcia Inspires New Video-Editing Program, Fan Contest". Rolling Stone.
  20. ^ Spangler, Todd (April 19, 2019). "Vimeo Acquires Magisto, a Video-Creation Automation Company". Variety.
  21. ^ Lunden, Ingrid (April 15, 2019). "Vimeo has acquired short-form video-creation platform Magisto, reportedly for $200M". TechCrunch.
  22. ^ "Magisto Turns Anybody's Unedited Video Footage Into a Short, Fun Movie With a Click of a Button" (Press release). PR Newswire. September 20, 2011.
  23. ^ Olson, Parmy (September 20, 2011). "Billionaire Li Ka-shing Sinks $5M Into Automatic Video Editor Magisto". Forbes.
  24. ^ Cheredar, Tom (October 29, 2013). "Video editing startup Magisto closes $13M from Qualcomm & Sandisk". VentureBeat.
  25. ^ "Mobile video app Magisto raises $2m". Globes. 23 February 2014.
  26. ^ "Israeli Magisto Raises $2 Million From Mail.ru, Brings Video Editing App To Russia's Facebook". Jewish Business News. February 23, 2014.
  27. ^ Parag, Noa (6 April 2011). "Magisto wins 1st place at Techonomy3". Globes.
  28. ^ Bonnington, Christina (December 26, 2014). "15 Essential Apps to Install on Your New iPad". WIRED.
  29. ^ "Deloitte Global announces 2016 Technology Fast 500™ EMEA rankings" (PDF) (Press release). Deloitte. 9 December 2016.
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