Since everyone’s got a smartphone in their pocket nowadays, video has never been easier to shoot. And with video apps like Viddy and Socialcam, it’s also easier than ever to share with family and friends. There’s just one problem: About 95 percent of videos shot with mobile are things no one would ever want to watch. Video editing startup Magisto is trying to change that, with mobile apps that automagically edit videos and add audio to make them actually watchable.
Magisto first introduced its cloud-based editing tool last September, and made the same tool available for iOS devices in early January. In just seven months, it’s gotten more than a million iPhone users, who collectively have created more than 7 million edited videos. Now, Magisto is rolling out a new mobile app that will let Android owners make their own beautiful mobile videos.
The app works like this: Users select a bunch of videos that they’ve shot and pick a soundtrack. Videos are uploaded to the cloud, and Magisto’s video editing magic goes to work. A few minutes later, they’ll get a notification that a video has been stitched together for them. Once that’s done, they can share the video on Facebook or Twitter, as well as send a link via email to friends and family.
Due in part to the large number of different devices, form factors, and operating versions of the Android operating system, there aren’t very many really good video editing solutions out there — i.e. there’s no iMovie for Android. There are even fewer that can do what Magisto does, which gives the app a huge advantage when targeting those devices.
Magisto’s Android app also takes advantage of some special features in the OS, which aren’t available to iOS users: For instance, you can select videos and begin making a Magitso video from directly within the gallery, without having to launch the app first. And while the app will work just fine on devices running Android 2.3 or above, Magisto has been working closely with Google to soon release a new version that is optimized for phones and tablets running Android 4.1, a.k.a. Jelly Bean.
Last year, Magisto raised $5.5 million from Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing’s private investment arm, Horizons Ventures. Previous investor Magma Venture Partners also participated in the round.