Interactive Streaming Platform Adventr, Founded by Grammy-Winning Producer Devo Harris, Secures $5M Seed Investment

Investment led by Paladin Capital will position Adventr as a safe and secure low-cost, interactive streaming platform

Adventr, the video communications software platform founded by Devo Harris, the Grammy Award-winning producer and media executive, has announced a $5 million seed round led by cyber and advanced technologies investor Paladin Capital and joined by Reinventure Capital, Invisible Ventures and music artist, John Legend.

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Adventr’s mission is to democratize the online video industry by providing low-cost, easy-to-use, interactive video creation, editing and cross-platform video distribution tools in a safe and secure environment.

Video is increasingly critical to the operating strategies of enterprises, for product marketing, user engagement, job training or content, leading many to rely heavily on video’s ability to drive revenue growth, cut costs and deliver against mission-critical goals. Indeed, nearly every social media platform has pivoted to focus on video as it has become the core media of the Internet. As a result, keeping the attention and engagement of viewers has become paramount.

Yet traditional platforms, designed primarily for large agencies and broadcasters, are cumbersome, difficult-to-customize and expensive. Companies generally do not have a searchable, secure video library, offer little to no viewer interaction and lack robust analytics to measure the return on their investment.

To solve this issue, Adventr has built an easy-to-use and affordable SaaS platform for creating, viewing and sharing interactive media. Interactive and intelligent videos created on Adventr are not only clickable but actionable, integrating text, calls and emails, offering seamless interactivity across a wide variety of channels including embeds, third-party players and social media platforms. The platform enables users to securely turn video into an internet of things device, delivering a wealth of data at scale.

Viewers engage with videos through touch, voice or point-and-click. Adventr’s analytics suite offers robust tracking and reporting features, enabling customers to monitor and manage user interactions and content trends inside the videos. Organizations can create real time behavioral profiles and interactive feedback loops, increasing engagement across consumption platforms and geographies. The tool is GDPR compliant and can handle personally identifiable information especially in the areas of training and testing.

Adventr has recently secured a patent[i] on a new capability for media content to change midstream and for video to cause actions (e.g., make a call, buy an item) based on voice commands.

The total addressable market for online video software is estimated by Vimeo, based on internal data, to be approximately $40 billion in 2021, growing to $70 billion in 2024. With over 8,000 beta users, Adventr’s current customers include AsiaNet News, MSI Gaming, SK Interactive and The New South Wales Government. The company was also a finalist in the 2021 TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield. With selected Proof-of-Concept customers, Adventr has already reached over 8,000 beta users.

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Devo Harris, CEO and Founder of Adventr, states: “Adventr was inspired by my experience creating content for artists like Kanye West, Britney Spears and Nas. The music videos where I introduced interactive components shot up in popularity, proving that engaging viewers was not just about expensive footage and editing.

“Adventr represents a fundamental shift in video. The value of the player is only surpassed by the data that’s collected from it. The platform also stands out because it’s use-case agnostic. Whether it’s used to create a movie or a training simulation, everyone now has access to a suite of tools usually reserved for tech-savvy, big budget organizations.

“With Adventr’s affordable solution, our users are now empowered to seamlessly create privacy-compliant, smart videos for distribution across global communication networks and devices.”

“Online video has become a critical tool for businesses and organizations worldwide. As an investor focused on technologies that protect and enhance digital infrastructure, Paladin was impressed by how Adventr provides organizations of all sizes with the ability to create and leverage engaging videos that are privacy-compliant and maintain a safe and secure cyber environment,” added Christopher Steed, Partner, Paladin Capital Group.

“With its scalable data collection and user bias detection capabilities across multiple platforms, Adventr’s proprietary AI and data synthesis opportunities are incredible. We look forward to supporting Devo and the team as they develop their market strategy, hire talent and build new features including phrase search and dynamic streaming.”

Devo Harris Biography

Adventr Founder and CEO, Devo Harris, also known as Devo Springsteen, is a Grammy Award-winning producer/songwriter and founding team member of Kanye West’s GOOD Music record label, who turned to technology after completing his MBA in 2011.

After graduating from Wharton Business School, Harris launched the career of John Legend by signing him to West’s GOOD Music. Devo provided award-winning music and interactive media services to artists and brands including MTV, Dr. Pepper, Aretha Franklin, Britney Spears, Nas and many more. Devo then won the Best Rap Song Grammy in 2006 for his production of “Diamonds (from Sierra Leone)” with Kanye West and Jay-Z and, shortly after, developed the first “choose your own adventure” music video.

After earning an MBA from Columbia Business School, Devo started his career in technology by teaching himself to code. Devo then became a Senior Product Manager at Vimeo, leading their video player technology. He also developed user-centric research programs, product specs, QA processes, and data dashboards to find latent opportunities and optimize feature sets, performance and new user growth.

With over ten years invested in interactive streaming, Devo has become one of the world’s top experts in next-generation media with a focus on radical simplification and scale, through integrations with third-party applications, players and services. In 2019, he launched Adventr as a smart video platform.

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