Wochit raises $4.75M to sell news video as it happens

Company supplies footage to organizations without the manpower or resources to get it themselves

It can come off as kind of silly sometimes (like in that recent Daily Show segment where Nancy Grace was doing a telecom interview with another reporter who was literally a few feet away from her) but when a news organization can send reporters out into the field, or show video of something happening in some remote part of the world, it really does give that organization more credibility.

Unfortunately, this is also very expensive and many smaller news sources, especially blogs, simply do not have the resources to get this kind of footage on their own. And so they suffer in comparison.

Video platform Wochit, which sells news video footage while it is happening, has raised $4.75 million in Series A funding, it was announced late Sunday. The venture capital round was led by Redpoint Ventures, Cedar Fund and Greycroft Partners.

The company will use the new money it has raised the to "accelerate go-to-market efforts," which include "new initiatives with its customers on producing, syndicating and monetizing videos about any topic as news happens."

"The company has grown to more than 20 people and is early in its revenue-generating activities. There's consistent introduction of new capabilities including recently: more versatile white labeling by Wochit customers to have video produced based on their stories reflecting their storeis' tones and incorporating their media and branding, and also expanding offerings of embed-able channels that can automatically refresh feeds of videos on particular topics," Seth Kenvin, a consultant to Wochit, told VatorNews via an e-mail interview.

Founded in 2012, and with offices in both New York and Israel, Wochit creates hundreds of daily news videos from footage it has licensed. Publishers can then select and integrate, based on topic of interest into their web sites, mobile apps, news organizations, blogs and other publishing entities.

It allows new organizations that do not have the the finances, resources or manpower to do onsite reporting, especially when it comes to international news, to publish timely videos on their sites. Wochit produces an average of 458 news videos every day. 

"Content from Wochit runs on dozens of web sites, and is currently growing geometrically quarter-over-quarter," said Kenvin.  "Customers tend to be web publishers but within that definition it's broad -- from single person blogs to media conglomerates."

Some of the site's partners include YouTube, Reuters, Getty Images and Brightcove. 

What separates Wochi from its competitors is its ability to get more videos out at a quicker rate.

"We are capable of doing hundreds of stories daily, whereas others without our technological practices tend to be an order of magnitude less," Kenvin said. "To a degree Wochit is introducing video media for the sorts of content distribution done by wire services, although at the moment these services (ex: Thomson Reuters) are much more partners than competitors -- we work with their written content and visual media for the production we do."

"Web publishers are seeking ways to distinguish themselves from competitors with rich and engaging content, and Wochit fulfills that need with its innovative model for video production and distribution," Dean Gilbert, who is a venture partner with Redpoint and a senior advisor to YouTube, said in a statement. "Wochit brings advantages in quality, flexibility, cost, scale and timeliness of video to open new revenue opportunities for publishers."

Some of Wochit's recent initatives include the organization of content by channels, and it allows customers to embed these channels as feeds that are automatically refreshed with new video. Right now the site offers content under four channels: news, business, entertainment and tech. 

Additionally, the company notes that its customers have been "expanding white-label publishing options such as videos with promotion of their brands, incorporation of their media and basis in their stories." 

"The Wochit team is unique in combining expertise both in the craft of video production and in multiple relevant technologies," Cedar Fund managing partner Gal Israely said in a statement. "We are thrilled to work with Wochit on accelerating the company's impressive growth, including innovative new ways that web publishers can showcase ever-fresh content, incorporate their own perspectives and monetize."