How can live videos on Facebook and other platforms be optimized? Let's say, for example, by offering a change of perspective without exploding costs. It's simple: With HIGGS.
1. Who are you and what do you do? Please briefly introduce yourself and your product!
We are a team of ten people who work every day to usher in the next generation of live streaming. The four founders learned about the Manage&More scholarship from UnternehmerTUM Just like the rest of our team, we have very different professional backgrounds: Jakob Bodenmüller (TUM Business Administration & Computer Science), Lucas Jacobson (Business Informatics), Glenn Glashagen (Physics) and Leon Szeli (Psychology, Communication & Consumer Affairs).
With the software from HIGGS You can combine multiple camera perspectives from smartphones in a live stream. For example, at a conference, several smartphones can be placed on tripods or held in the hand. These perspectives are then bundled on a tablet. There, like a director, you can select the best perspective with a simple tap of your finger. This is then streamed live to the platform of your choice, such as Facebook, YouTube, or your own website. The result is a live video with changing perspectives, similar to what you would see in a football match broadcast on TV.
We use patented technology for this and are the first software to enable live streams from multiple perspectives on Android. What used to require a great deal of expertise, kilometers of cable, a video mixer, broadcast trucks, and extremely expensive cameras, we can now offer in a much simpler and more affordable way.
2. But that's been around for a long time!
That's right, professional film crews also offer this service. For around €10,000 per event day. We can offer it for a tenth of the cost. Even if we film in 4K with expensive cameras, this doesn't help much with marketing on Facebook because the video is compressed.
Our vision is also that every attendee of an event can film and thus contribute their own perspective to the stream. Thus, our solution offers not only a significant cost advantage but also greater authenticity and flexibility.
Biggest challenge: Network coverage in Germany
3. What has been your biggest challenge so far?
Network coverage in Germany. Currently, we decide individually – depending on the event location – whether to rely on on-site Wi-Fi or LTE. Unfortunately, Germany is anything but a pioneer in this area.
We're doing everything we can to deliver a stable stream even in cases of poor local network coverage. We're working on adapting the video quality to the current internet connection using adaptive bitrates to make live streams possible everywhere. Nevertheless, we believe the launch of 5G in Germany, planned for 2020, can't come soon enough.
4. Let’s get down to business: How is business going?
We are working with several selected pilot customers such as Sky Deutschland, Vodafone and the U.N. There is a high demand for cost-effective live streams optimized for social media. The market is growing by 18% annually. Our advantage is that we are also reaching a new target audience for whom a live stream would previously have been beyond their budget.
5. What does Munich mean to you?
In our opinion, Munich is currently the most attractive city in Germany for high-tech startups. Anyone looking to build a platform should go to Berlin; anyone focused on tech should definitely consider Munich. With two excellent universities, a university of applied sciences, the UnternehmerTUM, Manage&More, the CDTM, the LMU EC, and many other student initiatives like Academy Consult, Munich offers a unique ecosystem. Access to talent is particularly incredible in Munich. The majority of our employees come from the Master's program in Computer Science at TUM.
Although we are currently extending our reach into Silicon Valley – I (Leon) am going to Stanford for a research project – Munich is and remains the home and heart of HIGGS.
6. How will your startup become the next unicorn? Or will we see you soon at Epic Fail Night?
By enabling everyone in the world to create a cost-effective yet high-quality live video. It will be crucial for us to make the transition from a service to a pure software solution. Currently, we send freelancers equipped with our technology to events. To achieve this, the product needs to be even easier and more intuitive to use, so that customers themselves, and eventually event attendees too, can easily create a stream with multiple perspectives.
7. Club or bar?
First Boazn and then to the club.
