Video startup Vloggi raises $500,000 in extra pre-seed for $3.3 million valuation

Sydney video startup Vloggi has raised a second tranche of $500,000 in a pre-seed capital raise – for a total to $750,000 – in a round that values the company at $3.3 million.

The venture is now looking to a seed round of $1.5-2 million in July this year.

Ten of Vloggi’s 15 founding investors took part in the raise, including CEO and founder Justin Wastnage, and Brendan Leonard, co-founder of Capiotech.

Founded in 2018, Vloggi describes itself as the world’s first collaborative video production platform using AI to process, sort and annotate user-generated video for use by businesses and social groups.

Wastnage, a former director of the Tourism & Transport Forum, and founder of the Flight TV aviation video channel, said the pre-seed raise was significant milestone.

“It also follows a strong 2020 during which we onboarded several significant new customers including JAX Tyres & Autos, JUCY campervan rentals and the New South Wales Education Standards Authority (NESA), with several new high-profile deals currently in the late stages of completion,” he said.

NESA used Vloggi so that more than the top students in the 2020 HSC could video and submit acceptance speeches for topping the state in more than 100 subjects, sharing their stories with their peers and wider communities.

Wastnage said video is poised to explode as the dominant vehicle for creating content to support brand messaging.

“Vloggi is now the best-placed platform in this space to capitalise on surging interest amongst all businesses and industries looking for ways to solve the problem of how to generate quality video content at scale and for minimal cost.,” he said.

In February, video producer Tarryn Myburgh became one of Vloggi’s “most significant new individual investors to date”, also joining the board and becoming head of video.

The company recently upgraded its platform, including advanced API functionality, and improvements to the user interface, as well as introducing a more flexible pricing with tiers for larger corporate teams .

Wastnage said he’s now fielding enquiries from VC firms, family offices and fund managers about the upcoming seed round and expects to name a lead investor soon.