Magisto

Magisto
Original author(s) Oren Boiman, Alex Rav Acha
Initial release December 19, 2011
Development status Active
Operating system

iOS 6.0 or later;

Android 2.2 or later;
Available in English
Type Video Editing
Website www.magisto.com

Magisto is a web application and mobile app that provides a free automatic video editing service for amateurs. According to the website, Magisto aims to solve the problem of video editing being too complicated and time-consuming by letting users edit their videos in a click.[1]

Technology

The Israel-based company has built its service on patent-pending image analysis technology that analyzes unedited videos and identifies the most interesting parts. The system recognizes faces, animals, landscapes, action sequences, movements and other interesting content within the video, as well as analyzes speech and audio. These scenes are then edited together, along with music and effects, into share-worthy clips.[2][3]

Automatic video editing

Automatic video editing products have emerged over the past decade in order to make video editing accessible to a broader consumer market. Automatic video editing technology does the work for the user, eliminating the need for a deeper understanding or knowledge of how to use complicated video editing software. Muvee Technologies introduced autoProducer, the first PC-based automatic video editing platform, in 2001. Other solutions, including Sony’s MovieShaker and Roxio Cinematic, followed in 2002.[4] As smartphones and consumer video recording devices become more prevalent the need for an easier video solution has led to a renewed interest in automatic video editing.[5]

Magisto has been compared to Videolicious and Animoto, however Videolicious is not available on Android.[6]

History

2009

Magisto was founded in 2009 as SightEra (LTD) by Dr. Oren Boiman (CEO) and Dr. Alex Rav-Acha (CTO) with the mission of making it easy for anyone to edit videos, regardless of video editing expertise. The inspiration for Magisto came when CEO Boiman’s first daughter was born in 2005. Boiman, like many others, was frustrated with the fact that had to spend many hours editing together videos of his daughter and he saw the need for an easier way to capture and share video memories without the time consuming process of video editing.[7]

2011

2012

2013

2014

In February, 2014 Magisto reported that they had 20 million users and were gaining 2 million new users per month.[13] The company also confirmed the latest investment from Russian internet company, Mail.Ru Group.

In September 2014, Magisto rolled out a new feature called, ‘Instagram Ready’ which allows users to upload 15 second clips that are automatically formatted for Instagram.[14] In the same month Magisto also launched  a new feature for iOS and Android users, called ‘Surprise Me’[15] which creates video from still photographs on users’ smartphones.

In 2014, Magisto was placed 9th on the 2014 Deloitte Israel Technology Fast 50 list, as one of the fastest growing technology companies,[16] and was named as a finalist in the Red Herring’s Top 100 Europe award.[17] 

2015

In January 2015, Magisto participated in a statistical analysis on the habits of smartphone users in conjunction with Gigaom.[18]

Funding Rounds

In 2010, the company received more than $5.5 million in series A and B from Magma ventures Partners and Horizons ventures.

In September 2011, at the same time as the public launch of their automatic video editing 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.[19][20] Other investors include Magma Venture Partners, which has participated in three rounds of funding for Magisto.[21]

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

Business model

Magisto has a freemium business model. Users can create their video clips for free. However, they plan to offer premium features like HD ([High-definition video]), unbranded videos and the ability to download videos in the future.[22]

Awards

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.[23]

See also

References

  1. Magisto- FAQ -
  2. September 20, 2011. Magisto automates online video editing for you by Laura Locke
  3. September 20, 2011. Grove; Automated Video Editing Site Makes Movie Magic Out of Raw Footage by Jennifer Van
  4. April 23, 2002. Cinematic by Jan Ozer
  5. Jul 11, 2011. Smartphone Adoption and Usage by Aaron Smith
  6. Wheatley, Mike (January 19, 2015). "Magisto: A simple tool to create professional video listings". Reality BizNews.
  7. August 16, 2011. Meet The Magisto Team. CEO & Co-Founder: Oren Boiman by Magisto
  8. September 20th, 2011. Magisto raises $5.5M for automatic video editing tool Magisto raises $5.5M for automatic video editing tool by Robin Wauters
  9. September 21, 2011. Additional Creator Tools from YouTube by Shenaz Zack Mistry, Product Manager
  10. Magisto Hits Milestone of 5 Million Users With 1 Million Downloads in the Last Month, PRNewswire, March 7, 2013
  11. "Magisto Video Editor & Maker - On Google Play". Google Play.
  12. Cheredar, Tom (September 19, 2013). "With 10M users, Magisto’s automatic moviemaker app commands the ad potential of a cable TV show". Venture Beat.
  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. Sawers, Paul (September 10, 2014). "Magisto for Android now lets you assemble 15-second videos to share on Instagram". The Next Web.
  15. Roettgers, Janko (September 4, 2014). "Magisto launches Surprise Me to automatically generate videos from your camera roll". Gigacom.
  16. "Magisto Selected as 2014 Deloitte Israel Technology Fast 50 Company". Magisto. October 21, 2014.
  17. "Magisto is a Finalist for the 2014 Red Herring Top 100 Europe Award". Magisto. March 24, 2014.
  18. Roettgers, Janko (January 23, 2015). "Special report: How we really use our camera phones". Gigacom.
  19. June 2009,Hong-Kong. Li Ka-shing Li Ka-shing
  20. September 2011. Billionaire Li Ka-shing Sinks $5M Into Automatic Video Editor Magisto http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2011/09/20/billionaire-li-ka-shing-sinks-5m-into-automatic-video-editor-magisto/ by Parmy Olson, Forbes Staff
  21. "Magma Venture Partners | CrunchBase".
  22. Sep 20, 2011. "Magisto raises $5.5M to magically edit your videos" by Ryan Lawler
  23. Techonomy 3 – Platform for Israeli companies to announce their product internationally

External links