Six new media startups have entered the Media Lab Bayern and form the fourth batch of the Media Startup Fellowship. They are working on new solutions for editorial automation, community building, and podcaster support. Shelfd, Factfox, Plantura, Vivoico, Voctag, and Eventspace will spend the next six months in the Media Lab developing their products to market readiness. The program includes extensive coaching and mentoring, as well as €15,000 in funding. Two media houses, SWMH (Süddeutsche Zeitung) and Red Bull Media House, are supporting the new startups.
The six new teams cover a broad and particularly current spectrum:
"The teams we have included in the fourth batch are tackling current industry issues: community building in social and audio, content automation, podcasts, and the invention of new forms of advertising."
says Lina Timm, Management of Media Lab Bayern. The media startups qualified for the program through a multi-part application process. Most recently, the five teams prevailed against eight other applicants in a two-day selection boot camp in December 2017.
Two startups under the wing of major media companies
As in the previous round, two startups from media companies are supported in the Partner Fellowship in Batch #4.
"We are particularly pleased that SWMH, Süddeutsche Zeitung, and Red Bull Media House are each supporting a startup for the second time. The partners will have the opportunity to work closely with the teams and directly contribute to the development of the prototype,"
says Lina Timm. The team Shelfd secured the SWMH Partner Fellowship on the topic of “Making Advertising Better”. The team Voctag is supported by Red Bull Media House.
The six new media startups now face six months of workshops ranging from prototyping and business planning to marketing, sales, design and pitch training.
The new media startups in the Fellowship
Voctag is a platform for podcast and radio communities where communication takes place exclusively through voice. Users exchange voice messages within their community and thus engage in conversation with each other, as well as directly with their favorite podcaster or radio station. This allows podcasters and broadcasters to build their own audio communities.
Plantura is a digital gardening magazine that uses a data-driven tech framework to identify trending topics. Its software finds topics that are currently being hotly debated online, allowing the editorial team to focus on them. Plantura has already established a high and highly targeted reach within its target audience. The magazine is monetized through meaningful and value-added product placements.
Factfox supports social media managers in responding to online comments. The tool suggests precisely tailored responses to user comments, enabling faster responses. By automatically capturing new facts in the daily editorial workflow, the response database grows over time.
VIVOICO boosts user engagement on publishers' sites. This easy-to-implement technology complements existing content with high-quality content from micro-influencers. This provides users with additional value and publishers with a longer dwell time on their sites.
Shelfd is a streaming platform with a focus on curation. The platform simplifies the discovery, sorting, recommendation, and retrieval of videos. The startup's goal is to build a platform where all conceivable media libraries can be accessed through a single interface. Users receive personalized recommendations, and producers can deliver their content to the desired audience.
With EventSpace A platform is being created that connects people in global niche communities. With a completely new AI-supported mobile experience, EventSpace connects users in interactive online event formats such as speed dating sessions. Event organizers can bring their attendees together online before and after the event cost-effectively and from any location via digital satellite events. This promotes networking and community building around conferences.
