Magisto

Magisto is a technology company founded in 2009 to provide artificial intelligence (AI) technology for video editing. It produces an online video editor of the same name (both as a web application and a mobile app) for automated video editing and production aimed at consumers and businesses.[1] The company was acquired by Vimeo in 2019 for an estimated US$200 million.

Magisto
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo editing and video marketing
Founded2009
Founder
  • Dr. Oren Boiman
  • Dr. Alex Rav-Acha
HeadquartersMountain View, California,
U.S.
Products
  • Magisto Web Online Video Editor
  • Magisto Mobile App Video Editor
ParentVimeo
Websitewww.magisto.com

Technology

Magisto was founded by Dr. Oren Boiman, a computer scientist that graduated from Tel Aviv University followed by graduate work in computer vision at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Boiman developed a number of patent-pending image analysis technologies that analyze unedited videos to identify the most interesting parts.[2] The system recognizes 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.[3][4]

Automatic video editing

Automated video editing products have emerged to make video editing easier for a broader consumer market. 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.[5] 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.[6]

Music

The Magisto app contains a library of music. The music, largely by independent artists, is sorted by mood and is licensed for in-app use.[7]

History

Magisto was founded in 2009 as SightEra (LTD) by Dr. Oren Boiman (CEO) and Dr. 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.[8]

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.[9] On the following day Magisto was added to YouTube Create's collection of video production applications.[10]

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 the 2012 CES Mobile App Showdown.[11] On August 28, 2012, Magisto launched the Android app on Google Play. On September 13, 2012, Magisto launched a Google Chrome App and announced Google Drive integration.

On March 7, 2013, Magisto claimed 5 million users.[12] Google listed Magisto as an "Editors’ Choice" on its list of "Best Apps of 2013".[13] In September 2013, the company claimed that 10 million users had downloaded the App.[14]

In February 2014, Magisto claimed that they had 20 million users, with 2 million new users per month.[15] The company also confirmed investment from a Russian internet company, Mail.Ru Group.[16] 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.[17] In the same month Magisto also launched a new feature for iOS and Android users, called ‘Surprise Me’[18] which creates video from still photographs on users’ smartphones. In October 2014, Magisto was placed 9th on the 2014 Deloitte Israel Technology Fast 50 list[19] and named as a finalist in the Red Herring's Top 100 Europe award.[20] 

In January 2015, Magisto participated in a statistical analysis on the habits of smartphone users in conjunction with Gigaom.[21] In July 2015, Magisto released an editing theme dedicated to musician Jerry Garcia.[22]

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.[23]

Funding rounds

In 2010, the company received more than $5.5 million in Series A round and B venture round funding from Magma Venture Partners and Horizons Ventures.[24]

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.[25]

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

Business model

Magisto has a freemium business model: 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.[26]

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.[27]
  • Magisto won first place at CES 2012 Mobile app competition, during the launch of Magisto iOS mobile app.[28]
  • Magisto was awarded twice the Google Play Editor's Choice and was part of iPhone App Store Best App awards for 2013[29] and 2014, and Wired Essential iPad Apps.[30]
  • Magisto was declared by Deloitte as the 7th fastest growing companies in EMEA in 2016.[31]

See also

References
  1. "Magisto - FAQ". Magisto.
  2. Stuart, S.C. (September 23, 2016). "Why Wannabe Filmmakers Should Check Out Magisto". PC Magazine. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  3. Locke, Laura (September 20, 2011). "Magisto automates online video editing for you". CNET.
  4. September 20, 2011. Grove; Automated Video Editing Site Makes Movie Magic Out of Raw Footage by Jennifer Van
  5. April 23, 2002. Cinematic by Jan Ozer
  6. Jul 11, 2011. Smartphone Adoption and Usage by Aaron Smith
  7. "Tuesday Tips: How To Personalize Your Movie With Your Own Music". Magisto. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  8. August 16, 2011. Meet The Magisto Team. CEO & Co-Founder: Oren Boiman by Magisto
  9. September 20, 2011. Magisto raises $5.5M for automatic video editing tool Magisto raises $5.5M for automatic video editing tool by Robin Wauters
  10. September 21, 2011. Additional Creator Tools from YouTube by Shenaz Zack Mistry, Product Manager
  11. "Magisto is magic at CES Mobile Apps Showdown". CNET. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
  12. Magisto Hits Milestone of 5 Million Users With 1 Million Downloads in the Last Month, PRNewswire, March 7, 2013
  13. "Magisto Video Editor & Maker - On Google Play". Google Play.
  14. Cheredar, Tom (September 19, 2013). "With 10M users, Magisto's automatic moviemaker app commands the ad potential of a cable TV show". Venture Beat.
  15. "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.
  16. Chapman, By Lizette (21 February 2014). "Mail.Ru Backs Video-Editing Startup Magisto". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
  17. Sawers, Paul (September 10, 2014). "Magisto for Android now lets you assemble 15-second videos to share on Instagram". The Next Web.
  18. Roettgers, Janko (September 4, 2014). "Magisto launches Surprise Me to automatically generate videos from your camera roll". Gigacom.
  19. "Magisto Selected as 2014 Deloitte Israel Technology Fast 50 Company". Magisto. October 21, 2014.
  20. "Magisto is a Finalist for the 2014 Red Herring Top 100 Europe Award". Magisto. March 24, 2014.
  21. Roettgers, Janko (January 23, 2015). "Special report: How we really use our camera phones". Gigacom.
  22. Jon Blistein (2 July 2015). "Jerry Garcia Inspires New Video-Editing Program, Fan Contest". Rollingstone.com.
  23. Spangler, Todd (April 19, 2019). "Vimeo Acquires Magisto, a Video-Creation Automation Company". Variety. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  24. Staff, V. C. J. (2011-09-20). "Magisto Inks $5.5M for Cloud-based Video Editing". Venture Capital Journal. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
  25. Olson, Parmy. "Billionaire Li Ka-shing Sinks $5M Into Automatic Video Editor Magisto". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  26. Sep 20, 2011. "Magisto raises $5.5M to magically edit your videos Archived 2011-12-24 at the Wayback Machine" by Ryan Lawler
  27. Techonomy 3 – Platform for Israeli companies to announce their product internationally
  28. "Magisto is magic at CES Mobile Apps Showdown". CNET. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  29. "We've Been Featured in the App Store Best of 2013! | Magisto Video Marketing Blog". blog.magisto.com. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  30. Bonnington, Christina. "15 Essential Apps to Install on Your New iPad". WIRED. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  31. "Deloitte Global announces 2016 Technology Fast 500™ EMEA rankings" (PDF).
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