Social video platform company Jun Group has closed $2.5 million in financing from Western Technology Investment. WTI’s portfolio also includes Facebook, in which the firm was an early investor, Google, Plaxo, StumbleUpon, Ustream and other socially oriented companies.
Mitchell Reichgut, founder and chief executive officer of Jun Group, said it will use the funds to accelerate its growth by building its team and advancing its distribution and analytics technology. “The opportunity to change online video advertising from the interruptive model of yesterday by putting people in control is significant and partnering with WTI will enable us to drive the category of social video forward,” he said.
The Jun Group delivers millions of monthly opt-in video views – meaning viewers actively choose to watch them – across social networks, mobile devices, and YouTube working with a roster of Fortune 500 brands, major entertainment companies, and media and creative agencies. One of its most recent campaigns is Subway High School Heroes, short videos that highlight inspirational individuals relevant to students as it supports the Subway restaurant chain.
The company also has its own analytics dashboard, Voyeur, which provides real-time data about views, shares, likes, tweets, ratings, comments, and geographic dispersal.
“Online video advertising is a significant and rapidly growing opportunity, but, most importantly, it is ripe for innovation,” said Dan Holman, investment partner at WTI. “Jun Group is a clear leader in the space. They’ve set the standard for opt-in, performance-based video, and our partnership delivers the financing to aggressively capitalize on this opportunity.”
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