Why we invested in Teleportal, collaborative software for creators of the future
By Joan Kim
Teleportal is building for a spatial computing future. Their first product, Vortex, is making it easier for users to collaborate on digital video creation for mobile consumption. Vortex is a 3D animation and VFX toolkit for Android and iOS that helps turn the creative process into an immersive social experience.
Until now, there hasn’t been an easy way for creators to collaborate on digital video and augmented reality (AR) content creation. Vortex is the first mobile content creation tool that enables users to collaborate spatially in real time. It is a spatial computing tool that lets content creators meet the insatiable demand in the marketplace for new video on channels such as YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram. Next Gen-ers are driving demand for mobile-first content. TikTok, for instance, has more than 689 million monthly active users globally (DataReportal, 2021).
Teleportal’s innovative computer-generated imagery (CGI) editing solution, combined with the company’s leadership team, were key factors in our decision to join New Age Capital, Betaworks and Lightspeed in a $1.7 million seed round. The company epitomizes what David Lee, President of Samsung Next, calls an ideal “founder-market” fit.
Thomas Suarez, CEO and co-founder of Teleportal, is one of the most talented young entrepreneurs in the world. Now 22, he founded what has morphed into Teleportal when he was just 15. Ryan Reede, co-founder and Head of Product, was previously a technical director at DreamWorks.
Vortex enables simultaneous collaboration of videos in much the same way that Google Docs lets multiple users collaborate on a document. Vortex is initially targeting users who follow visual effects (VFX) specialists as well as animation influencers who want to create content like them. The emphasis is on simplifying the video editing process. The market potential is huge. Vortex is on track to become the go-to video collaboration tool for the mobile segment of the $350 billion creator economy.
We think Vortex is like the Roblox for multi-user video editing. Roblox, a collaboration tool for video game creators, went public earlier this year for $38 billion. While Roblox facilitates collaboration, it is more difficult to learn and has a limited set of video editing tools compared to Vortex.
But unlike Roblox, which is designed with gaming in mind, Vortex is focused on enabling a multi-user creative environment with shared timelines. Based on Teleportal’s research and development, the innovative Vortex solution will enable simultaneous recording from multiple mobile devices.
Teleportal is also using a proven business model. Primary revenue streams include branded spaces – such as 3D sets, avatars and live events – and subscriptions for premium creator tools. The company is already well-positioned as the market leader when it comes to digital video collaboration. We expect the company to scale rapidly as partners with brands and influencers, and as more creators join the Vortex community.
Joan Kim is an investor with Samsung Next. Samsung Next's investment strategy is limited to its own views and does not reflect the vision or strategy of any other Samsung business unit, including but not limited to Samsung Electronics.
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