Businesses must keep content flowing on social media, which is why a startup called Soona says it has developed a new way to provide those photos and videos.
The company was founded by CEO Elizabeth Giorgi and Creative Director Hayley Anderson. Giorgi told me that they both worked in production (Anderson as animator, Giorgi as founder of his own video production company), and “they kept saying no to projects that needed to be done quickly; we could never find a way to make production go smoothly. move fast enough. “
At the same time, they saw a growing need, as small and medium-sized businesses increasingly rely on email and social marketing to promote themselves, which means they “go to a stock content site and buy something that isn’t even relevant to your brand. ” , or they can do a DIY solution. “
With soona, customers can get the photos and videos they need within 24 hours, and at a relatively affordable price. Giorgi compared the company’s approach to that of Kinko, which “turned printing into a same-day business 20 years ago.”
Giorgi said that soona combines “the best of retail innovation with a strong background in technology.” It operates real studios where clients come to take photos and film videos, but has also developed software to quickly encode and upload images, and to allow clients to “shop [their] Content in real time “.
Soona started with a studio in Denver and just launched in Minneapolis, and Giorgi said his hope is to open three to five studios in 2020. The service costs $ 393 per hour for a single shoot (with a guarantee of nine edited photos or an edited video), or $ 453 for a monthly membership.
The company also launched a service called soona anytime for customers in other geographies – you ship your product to someone and you get their content in about a week.
Soona announces that it has raised $ 1.2 million in seed funding led by 2048 Ventures, with participation from Matchstick Ventures and Techstars Ventures.
Giorgi noted that the fundraising documents include something she calls the Candor Clause, which requires investors to disclose whether they have ever faced problems of sexual assault, sexual harassment or sex discrimination.
Giorgi said that the team in 2048 fully supported this move. Additionally, soona is publishing the clause in the hope that other startups will include taking advantage of it, allowing founders and investors to “pass the tweets, move on to action, move on to something that makes it clear there will be consequences” for the misbehavior.
“This is not just a women’s problem, it is everyone’s problem,” he added. “We all want to be treated fairly.”
