Qwiki
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Technology, Software |
| Founded | January 24, 2011 |
| Founder | Doug Imbruce, Louis Monier |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
| Products | Automated video creation technology, iPhone app, iPad app |
| Parent | Yahoo! |
Qwiki was a startup headquartered in New York City that focused on automated video creation technology. On July 2, 2013, Yahoo! purchased the company for roughly $50 million. The primary offering was an iPhone application that automatically converted users’ photos and videos into easily shareable films. Initially, Qwiki released an iPad app that generated video summaries for more than 3 million search queries, accumulating over 3 million downloads and receiving Apple’s 2011 award for Best "Search and Reference" app.
The company collaborated with Bing by embedding its technology within the search engine and partnered with ABC News to provide video production tools to prominent publishers. Qwiki’s iPhone app earned Apple’s Editor's Choice distinction and won accolades in two categories at the 2013 Webby Awards. In 2013, Time Inc. included Qwiki in its list of “10 NYC Startups to Watch.” Investors backing the company featured cofounders from Facebook, YouTube, and Groupon. After a discussion between CEO Doug Imbruce and Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, Yahoo acquired Qwiki for $50 million. Imbruce co-founded the firm alongside Louis Monier, known for creating the Altavista search engine.
Company history
Qwiki debuted its alpha version on January 24, 2011, following a victory at the TechCrunch Disrupt Award in 2010. Soon after, Google reportedly made an acquisition offer ranging between $100 and $150 million, which Qwiki declined.
In January 2011, the startup raised $8 million in Series A funding led by Eduardo Saverin, Facebook’s co-founder, with additional contributions from Jawed Karim of YouTube and Pradeep Sindhu of Juniper Networks. Other institutional investors included Lerer Media Ventures and Tugboat Ventures. By March 2011, Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkofsky, cofounders of Groupon, invested another $1 million, raising total funding to $10.5 million.
April 2011 marked the launch of Qwiki’s iPad application incorporating Google Maps features with location-based annotated content. Within seven weeks post-launch, it exceeded 500,000 downloads.
In February 2012, Qwiki moved its operations from the Bay Area to New York City to strengthen ties with media collaborators. By May 2012, it introduced a platform tailored for bloggers and digital publishers and formed a partnership with ABC News to implement its technology on ABCNews.com and GoodMorningAmerica.com.
In June 2012, Bing integrated Qwiki-generated videos directly into search results beneath Wikipedia entries, enabling users to watch videos without navigating away from the search page.
The iPhone version of Qwiki was released in February 2013, earning Apple’s Editors' Choice recognition and surpassing 125,000 downloads within six days.
In May 2013, Time Inc. identified Qwiki as one of "10 NYC Startups to Watch."
Yahoo acquired Qwiki in July 2013 for $50 million but announced plans to discontinue the service effective November 1, 2014.