A few years ago, one of our engineers, Jacob, shared something he’d been working on: a scripting language that automated the creation of professional video. With this simple tool, you could pass in raw video and get back something that looked like a professional video editor had spent hours with it. Music, graphics, transitions, color – it was all there.
The tech was deceptively simple and the implications blew me away.
At our last start-up, PHHHOTO, we witnessed the power of giving people tools to create things they might not otherwise have the skill to make on their own. We learned that every human has an innate desire to create, but many lack the resources to bring their ideas to life. Unlocking this creative potential is incredibly powerful and rewarding. It felt like something our team was purpose-built to do.
Fast forward. Short videos now dominate our feeds and have transformed the way businesses market and sell products and services. Studies show that 95% of businesses report an increase in their video spend year-over-year.
Speak to anyone in marketing — whether it’s social, events, content, community, retail, etc — they’ll tell you that content has become everyone’s job. There’s a massive shift towards democratizing video, but workflow, brand consistency and ability to scale are huge bottlenecks.
In May 2020, just as the pandemic was shutting down the world, we launched Capsule: a novel way to collaborate and create fast, authentic, professional video without any video expertise. We saw immediate traction with companies like Google, Samsung, Salesforce, Deloitte and the Wall Street Journal, plus hundreds of small and medium-sized businesses who face similar challenges around video.
We quickly recognized that feeling again and thought, if we can scale Capsule, we can unlock a ton of pent-up creative potential in the world.
We’re excited to announce that we’ve raised $2M to do just that. We’re honored to have Array Ventures and Bloomberg Beta back us on our journey.
On a personal note, fundraising during a global pandemic was one of the most challenging experiences in my professional life. Thank you to Russell Armand and Joseph Jorgensen for keeping the wheels turning, Wilson Kriegel for keeping me focused and sane, Mom n Dad for the bed and office, friends and fam for the intros, customers for their support, investors who said “no” but taught us something, and most importantly, the investors who said “yes”: Shruti Gandhi, Karin Klein and James Cham. Shout out to the crew who helped us get us this product off the ground: Ambre, Clarke, Chase, Garrett, Greg, James, Jacob, Jason, Juan, Koko, Kyle, Linda, Mary Ann, Mike, Nathan, Omar, Peggy and Samuel.
THANK YOU!
-Champ Bennett + Capsule team
