Loopc.am has lately become a little bit of a craze amongst some iPhone users I know. Frankly, at first it seemed like something of a gimmick. Recording and sharing short gif-based videoclips called loops seemed like a temporary blip. I mean, why not just do a video and upload it somewhere? But word on the street is that users have taken to the app in droves and that is leading to significant traction in, perhaps, the same way that people took to sharing filter-altered images on Instagram. Loopc.am is also continuing an interesting startup tradition out of Berlin right now, joining EyeEm on the ‘photography’ front, and the ‘Berlin Swedish Mafia’ of Soundcloud and Readmill. But Loopc.am Founder Tor Rauden Källstigen feels animated loops are a brand new category of shareable content, and so do his investors, Passion Capital, who today doing an undisclosed seed financing round.
Alongside them are angel investors including Zoe Adamovicz (Xyologic, Concise Software), Alexander Ljung (Soundcloud), Heilemann Ventures (Dailydeal), Christophe Maire (Txtr), Felix Petersen (Amen), Peter Read and Eric Wahlforss (Soundcloud). The new funds will be used for growing the team and accelerating product development, including expanding the Loopc.am app client to support other platforms.
So, is this the ‘Twitter for video’? Maybe. Perhaps its just be a bridge before we get to LTE / 4G and the ability to upload HD clips easily?
Then again, animated loops have a quality which make them fun and shareable, just like YouTube videos. Indeed, Loopcam are calling this the “LOL-graph” (yes, I know, cringe, but what else was icanhascheezburger?)
The fun nature of loops mean it is being used by all sorts of people, from teenagers, to famous artists and musicians around the world, see loopcamblog.tumblr.com, including music producer Jermaine Dupri and Seventeen Magazine.
Right now there is no business model, but perhaps there is space to create some kind of ad network?
As Rauden Källstigen tells me “We think there’s business in between photos and video.”
So, get on the LoopTrain.
