San Diego startup Koji, which has developed a template-based platform so non-techies can easily create interactive memes, games and other user generated content to post on social media, has raised $10 million in an initial round of venture capital funding.
The 12-employee company, headed by former Google and Veoh Networks executive Dmitry Shapiro, has assembled a collection of games templates, images, sound effects, icons, color palettes and other content for what it calls “remixing.”
The company believes user generated content from the Koji platform has the potential to dramatically expand the types of memes, games, interactive selfies and other creative things seen on social media feeds.
Behind the scenes, the company has developed software and templates so amateurs can easily remix and create their own mini apps without knowing how to code software. Shapiro said it typically takes just a few minutes to create a simple meme or game.
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“It is sort of like TikTok except it is interactive,” said Shapiro.
While it’s easy today to share texts, images, videos and links on social media, it remains difficult for non-programmers to share remixed user generated content — or mini-apps — to post on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and other platforms.
For example, a game has been created for The Omelette Factory in Santee on Koji’s platform where players shoot a fried egg through a basketball hoop. The game is based on a template, with “asset packs” available on Koji enabling the basketball to be replaced with an egg, as well as other customized features.
The platform has been used by large brands, social media influencers and others to create games and interactive content that can be shared on social media and messaging apps, said Shapiro.
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Koji offers micro-payment and other tools in its platform. Some firms that supply emojis and images on the platform charge a small fee, and some game makers offer in-game purchases. Koji takes a small cut of each of these transactions, which is how the company makes money, said Shapiro.
This latest funding round was led by Galaxy Interactive’s EOS VC Fund, which is a partnership between Galaxy Interactive and blockchain software publisher Block.one.
“Koji has the potential to catalyze the digital passion economy. By enabling brands, influencers and creatives to easily remix interactive content and share in the value created, we believe Koji will become the meeting point for makers everywhere,” said Richard Kim, Partner at Galaxy Interactive
Others who participated in the funding round include Bitkraft Ventures, Keshif Ventures, Next10 Ventures and Moonshots Capital.
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Founded in 2016, Koji already had more than a dozen prominent angel investors. They include former Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner, games and esports leader Modern Times Group, Google News head Richard Gingras, and Zynga founder Mark Pincus. Koji raised $6 million in April 2019 for individual investors.
“The ability for fans to create interactive experiences about their favorite entertainment is incredibly powerful,” said Eisner in a statement. “We’ve gone from fan art to fan fiction to social fan games and beyond. The opportunities for interactive storytelling are never ending.”
Before Koji, Shapiro spent four years as an executive at Google. Prior to that, he worked at MySpace and founded San Diego-based Veoh Networks — an early rival to YouTube and Hulu.
Veoh raised $70 million during its six years in operation, but a long-running legal battle with Universal Music over copyright infringement crippled the company — even though Veoh won in court, and its victory was upheld in two appeals.
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In 2010, Veoh’s assets were sold to Qlipsol for an undisclosed price.
Shapiro sees Koji’s platform and the rise of so called mini-apps is akin to where YouTube was in its early days, when people questioned whether there was really a viable advertising market for user-generated videos.
But the audience for mini-apps is already demonstrated by WeChat, a popular messaging platform in China that has more than 2 million mini-apps in its ecosystem, he said.
With Koji, “any good media manager could make a game and share it on social media” to promote its brand, he said.
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June 30, 2020 at 08:13PM
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Startup Koji raises $10M to help non-techies create games, memes and other content for social media - The San Diego Union-Tribune
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