CaptureUs is a Melbourne startup developing an app to help users take better video with their mobile devices.
The pitch
CaptureUs aims to be Instagram for videos, helping smartphone users film better movies with their digital cameras and then share them over social media.
Unlike the popular still photography app, however, CaptureUs does not use rely on post-production filters to create a better result.
“We focus on helping you capture great video in the first place,” said Kinloch.
The app provides shot suggestions and on-screen guidelines “to help the user know what to shoot and how to shoot it,” she said. A team of Australian film directors have provided their knowledge for the app’s guidelines.
Kinloch studied commercial photography at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and majored in visual culture at Monash University. She has also worked as a professional photographer.
Selling it
The CaptureUs app is currently in private beta, with launch expected in the next few months, Kinloch said. Development began in December last year, Kinloch said.
It will be launched first for Apple iOS, with a Google Android version to follow. The startup may build versions for other mobile platforms if there is enough user demand, Kinloch said.
The app will be available for free, with in-app purchases such as premium shot types, music and cloud storage. CaptureUs may also sell a white-label version for additional revenue, Kinloch said.
Funding it
CaptureUs is partially self-funded by its founders, but last year received $20,000 for winning the Swinburne Venture Cup. The startup may later apply for government grants, said Kinloch.
When Tehcworld spoke to Kinloch, she was in the middle of a six-weeks-long overseas trip to talk to potential investors in the US. The startup last month travelled with Advance to Silicon Valley, but extended the trip to pitch at the Venture Labs Investment competition in Austin at the University of Texas and the Licensing Executives Society competition in Seattle.
Silicon Valley “was a really interesting experience and we learned a lot,” she said. “We’ve met some really amazing people doing extraordinary things.”
“It seemed that people were a little bit more willing and open to assist” in Silicon Valley compared to Australia, she said.
“What I was told of the culture there is [that] people have a pay-it-forward culture where people will help you out if they can.”
Startup scene
The Australian startup ecosystem “has a come a long way in the last couple of years,” Kinloch said. However, “entrepreneurship isn’t really part of the Australian mindset.”
“The startup scene is far less developed in Australia, which means there are less people overall that can assist in providing and helping new startups with strategic direction,” said Kinloch.
CaptureUs works out of the York Butter Factory in Melbourne. “Being surrounded by like-minded people has been very beneficial,” Kinloch said.
CaptureUs has not ruled out moving the business overseas, she said. “We’ll do what is in the best interest of the business. At this stage we are based in Australia but we’ll look to other opportunities as they emerge.”
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If you’ve got a startup or know about a cool new Australian business, please email Adam Bender at adam_bender@idg.com.au or on Twitter (@WatchAdam).
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