Watching videos of cats do weird things, is, well, a guilty pleasure for many. From memes to GIFs to viral clips of pandas sneezing, cute and funny animals have become the unofficial mascot of the internet.
Newly launched startup Waggle is looking to capitalize on all that entertaining animal content.
The New York-based company was born out of an incubator at Broadway Video Ventures, the venture arm of the production company Broadway Video. Broadway Video is best known as the company owned by Lorne Michaels, the man behind hit comedies like 30 Rock, Tommy Boy, Mean Girls and Saturday Night Live, to name a few.
The venture firm started up about five years ago, when it incubated digital comedy network Above Average. The network went on to become an internet hit and raised $15 million in venture capital in July.
A long-time fan of pet and animal content, Broadway Video Ventures' General Manager Matthew Cavnar decided to create Waggle, a digital and mobile-first platform for animal lovers.
Utilizing user-generated content, the Waggle team creates live programming, which it then projects to Waggle’s audience via its Facebook account, an e-mail newsletter, its website and mobile app. In its beta period alone, the company has already seen 10 million views to its platform.
“Something that’s important to us is to differentiate in live streaming,” said Cavnar. “What we want to do is reach a really large audience on our platform through livestream shows. For right now, we want to get it right on mobile and video for people who have pets and animals. The advantageous part of this is that we get to work with ridiculously cute content that people already love. But there’s a booming opportunity in live streaming, and we’re looking at how you can create the next generation of television using this platform.”
Last week, the company raised a $2.3 million seed investment led by Raine Ventures with additional investments from Lowercase Capital, Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, United Talent Agency, Broadway Video Ventures, Ore Ventures and additional angel investors. The company plans on using the funding for hiring, community and content development.
To date, Waggle’s platform has also been used by the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, The Surf Dog Surf City Event, and the San Francisco SPCA to live stream and distribute content.
The company’s office is located in 30 Rockefeller Plaza, one of the perks of a backing from a 40-year entertainment and media legacy.
“The cool thing about Broadway Video Ventures is we don’t necessarily come from entertainment, we come from startups, so even though we’re at this big juggernaut of a company, we do everything super lean, we found traditional financing, and that’s core to who we are,” said Cavnar. “It’s like a traditional incubator but has a halo around it of great media and entertainment.”
