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Mashable is excited to debut Behind the Launch, our first episodic, documentary-style video series that will follow a startup behind the scenes as it gears up to make its debut. The series is presented by Internet Explorer and will run through the end of June, with new episodes premiering every Monday and Wednesday.
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After reviewing dozens of applications, the startup we've decided to track is Vungle, a San Francisco-based company that purveys mobile video ads to promote apps. Just last week, Vungle announced that it had raised $2 million from a veritable who's who of Silicon Valley and Alley names: Google Ventures, AOL Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Ron Conway, 500 Startups’ Dave McClure, SoftTechVC’s Charles Hudson, Maynard Webb, Scott McNealy and Tim Draper.
Mobile advertising is an extremely promising space -- users spend 77 minutes per day on their smartphones, and year-over-year smartphone usage is up 13%. More time spent on social networks and games means there's a captive audience for advertisements. Vungle's platform lets mobile app developers capitalize on this audience with trailers -- much like movie trailers -- to flaunt the app's UI and prove to the customer that it's worth the investment.
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In the app store, ratings, screenshots and ads don't always convey the full experience, but high production costs have deterred mobile developers from creating trailers. Vungle produces punchy and cost-effective 15-second trailers, which are embedded into mobile applications for consumption.
“They have figured out a way to create high quality video trailers at scale and an accessible cost -- and integrate them into applications for maximum downloads, analytics and monetization," says Maynard Webb, board member at AdMob, Yahoo and Skype. "This company could win big in the exploding mobile applications space, and that’s why we’re putting our money on Vungle.”
Vungle's team is based in San Francisco, with offices in the UK and Pakistan. Vungle went through AngelPad's accelerator program, and it's in AngelPad's San Francisco digs that we first meet Zain and Jack, who have their sights set on a June 2012 launch for Vungle. The pressure is on.
On Behind the Launch, you'll watch Zain and Jack court investors, hire a team, test the product, market the goods and prepare for launch -- and you'll be by their side at the nail-biting moment when the product goes live and the feedback starts rolling in. Startup life is about iterating and innovating -- now you can watch it happen in real-time.
Meet The Team
Zain Jaffer, CEO and Co-Founder -- A successful and zany entrepreneur since age 15, Zain launched his first Internet company and built-up an impressive list of clients, including Google, Mozilla Firefox, MTV and Hilary Duff, before his 18th birthday. British.
Jack Smith, Co-Founder -- Self-described lunatic marketer and hacker. Started his career as a freelance web designer at age 13, founded a video startup, MediaRoots, in college. Met Zain at King's College London University in 2009. British.
Bryant Chou, CTO -- Full stack engineer and software architect with more than five years of experience developing mobile apps. He's an enthusiastic traveler who'll share his travel tales with you over a cold beer. American.
Ray Myers, Software Engineer -- 25-year-old Linux geek who loves robotics and has been programming since he was 7. Ray is a Shotokan karate third-degree Black Belt, but you can usually find him at his computer, trying to make robots bend to his will. American.
Marta Bulaich, Chief Yoga Officer -- Marta's first job was with the masterminds behind the TV infomercial legends Chia Pet and Clapper. After a career of working with various startups and venture capital firm, she came to Vungle to do public relations and center their chi in full lotus. American.
Series presented by Internet Explorer
Behind the Launch is presented by Internet Explorer. Learn how IE is building a more beautiful web through hardware accelerated graphics and modern web standards like HTML5. Get IE9 today or download the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, which features the new IE10 to see where we’re headed.
This story originally published on Mashable here.
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