Snapchat is covering its bets as its social network is reduced. Today Snap Inc unveiled the first class of its startup accelerator called Yellow that offers $ 150,000 in financing and business education focused on creativity in exchange for what a source says represents a seven to ten percent equity stake, online with other accelerators like Y Combinator. The nine companies will occupy a three-month residency at one of Snap's buildings in Venice, Los Angeles.
The accelerator class ranges from augmented reality studies and journalism to smooth style brands around weddings and fashion, to aesthetic-centric markets such as ConBody. matches you with a muscular ex-con for workouts.
Yellow calls itself "a launching pad for creative minds and entrepreneurs looking to build the next generation of great media companies." Yellow could become a content provider and potential acquisition feeder for the company. ANRK and Space Oddity Films could boost Snapchat's AR game effort, Hashtag Our Stories could fill Snap Map with citizen newscasts, Toonstar could bring Discover animations and SelfieCircus could drive marketing pop-ups like Snapbots that sold Spectacles from the company . [19659002]
But, at the same time, it's hard not to see yellow as a possible escape route for Snap's business if the Instagram competition ends up robbing all its users. Snapchat lost three million last quarter, contributed to a massive fall in the share price. After today's departure of the COO Imran Khan, it is trading at $ 9.66, just a few cents above its historic low.
If some of Yellow's investments explode and Snap makes capital available for follow-up rounds, the returns could complement your advertising revenue. But none of this first round of startups is ready to be a game changer, such as Bitmoji's Snap acquisitions and Looksery's first AR filters.
Inaugural Class of Yellow
Here's a look at the first nine companies on Snapchat Yellow, courtesy of write-up provided by Snap.
ANRK (London, United Kingdom): a new reality study that explores immersive storytelling through AR, VR, games and more.
- We are passionate about narratives focused on the human being and the use of playful interaction and new technologies to create powerful experiences that connect the digital and the physical.
ConBody (New York, NY) – a prison-style training camp that employs incarcerated people to teach gym classes.
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ConBody is facilitating a lifestyle full of opportunities by empowering our community to succeed. We hired people previously imprisoned to develop a personal discipline through a unique combination of cardiovascular training and body weight exercises that take advantage of the resistance properties of everyday objects. We apply military techniques to space restrictions intimately familiar to city dwellers and individuals who reside in small and restricted spaces. In addition, we are changing the views of people previously imprisoned to change by allowing professionals to interact with people previously imprisoned, which allows professionals to have a different perspective on them.
ConBody
Hashtag Our Stories (Durban, South Africa) – an international network of mobile journalism (MOJO), which publishes vertical video stories on social networks. Created by citizens, curated by journalists.
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Since September 2017, we have trained 200 storytellers in more than 40 countries to produce videos with their phones. We focus on constructive stories based on solutions and provide more diverse news coverage. Because more cameras and more perspectives mean more truth.
Hashtag Our Stories
IDK (Los Angeles, CA) – identification for Korean music. We are a digital media company that expands thoroughly in Korean music and K-Pop as a genre recognized worldwide; showing the identity of the artists that shape the culture. We provide insightful and rich coverage and content for the global Korean pop audience.
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We are creating a global brand and destination for an English-speaking Korean audience. Our mission is to create rich and stylized content about the Korean musical genre; less gossip, more news and features. We want to provide a legitimate outlet for Korean pop culture; Create emotive and ambitious stories that are visually chic for a young, hyper-conscious and digitally engaged audience.
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As the company begins, we will focus on publishing the best in attractive social video content. We will translate this content through platforms and, ultimately, we will create brands, shows and stories that will feed the insatiable appetite of the Korean pop audience. From there, we will develop live events, merchandise and much more.
Love Stories TV (New York, NY): a video platform for wedding planning and inspiration, bringing together couples and event professionals committed to visual community. Think of us as & # 39; Houzz & # 39; for weddings: we connect brides and grooms with the ideas, inspiration, products and services they need for their weddings in a unique visual community.
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At lovestoriestv.com, filmmakers and newlyweds from around the world share their professionally produced videos along with details and details about the wedding. Brides and grooms watch the videos to find ideas, inspiration, products and services for their wedding. We also have an active community of pre-committed brides under the age of 24 who watch the videos on our site, social networks and the Amazon Prime channel for entertainment. We partner with brands and wedding professionals to help them reach brides on our site and channels through the actual wedding movies that present them and original content.
Love Stories TV
Premme (Los Angeles, CA) – a lifestyle brand with its own style of fashion for the biggest girl It-Girl.
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Today, 67% of women in the United States wear large sizes, but plus size fashion accounts for only 17% of the women's apparel market. When it comes to the representation of the media, plus sizes lack similarly positive and aspirational visibility. Premme empowers women who have been historically marginalized through fashion, the creation of clothing and editorial and imaginative content contemporary and visionary. By creating an identifiable but ambitious brand that focuses on plus size women, our goal is to turn the script around what it means to look and be elegant, while leading the conversation and movement towards a truly diverse and inclusive fashion.
Premme [19659013] SelfieCircus (Los Angeles, CA) – a new type of circus.
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SelfieCircus creates emerging experiences designed to be documented and shared on social networks. The company is building a platform to connect artists, brands and consumers. The first SelfieCircus will open in Los Angeles at the end of 2018.
SelfieCircus
Space Oddity Films (Los Angeles, CA) – a content study that explores technology and culture that creates innovative content for each mobile platform , digital, AR / VR, videogames, feature films and television.
Space Oddity Films
Toonstar (Los Angeles, CA) – a digital animation network that creates and distributes cartoons of everyday pop culture for an "always on" world. Powered by patented animation technology, we produce interactive, parchment-like and interactive animated content at unprecedented speed and cost.
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We have a large and highly engaged audience of teenagers and young adults that generate millions of visits per week because our content is sticky, shareable, identifiable and designed specifically for social purposes. We are a team of study alumni and media technology innovators who have produced successful digital animated series, developed innovative multimedia technologies and launched mega entertainment franchises. We are now on a mission to build a nextgen animation network that offers greater reach + commitment at a fraction of the operating cost.
Toonstar