Animoto is a cloud-based video creation service that produces video from photos, video clips, and music into video slideshows,[2] and customized web-based presentations.[3] Animoto is based in New York City with an office in San Francisco.[4]
 | |
Screenshot of online Animoto video editor
| |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Photo Slideshow Software |
| Founded | August 2006 |
| Founders | Jason Hsiao, Brad Jefferson, Stevie Clifton, Tom Clifton |
| Headquarters | , |
Number of employees | 100 (2020)[1] |
| Website | animoto |
Animoto was founded in August 2006 by Jason Hsiao, Brad Jefferson, Stevie Clifton and Tom Clifton because of the poor video quality found on the internet.[5] Animoto’s patented Cinematic Artificial Intelligence technology allows users to turn photos, video clips and music into video slideshows.[6] Animoto’s founders include former producers of ABC, MTV, VH1, Comedy Central and the Documentary Group.[7]
Animoto launched a Facebook application during the 2008 SXSW Interactive Festival. The application experienced viral growth in April 2008. According to The New York Times, by mid-April, Animoto's Facebook application had nearly 750,000 people sign up in three days. At the peak, almost 25,000 people tried Animoto in a single hour.[8] Animoto decided to use Amazon's cloud computing servers in order to meet the growing number of subscribers.[9] The surge of its growth required it to increase its previous IT infrastructure 100-fold.[10] The use of cloud services allowed it to cope with the uptick in demand but also scale back services easily and cost-efficiently when demand slackened.[10] In June 2009, the Animoto launched an iPhone app, allowing users to create video using pictures on their mobile phone.[11]
By January 2013, the company had reached 6 million users and received a patent for its Cinematic Artificial Intelligence technology.[4] In July 2018, the company was hacked, leading to unauthorized access of Animoto user personal information.[12]
In 2020, Animoto released its social media insights in a report, consisting of an online survey of 1000 consumers and 500 marketers who are producing videos.[13] Animoto has partnerships with social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn.[14]
It is considered one of the scalable web applications that were developed from the early phases of cloud computing by companies with limited IT infrastructure.[10] It is available in both online and mobile platforms and offers both free and paid upgraded accounts.[15]
In 2009 Animoto received the Webby Award as Best Web Service & Application of the year.[16]