San Francisco-based Kapwing, makers of the online video editor by the same name, have raised a $11 million Series A round of financing led by CRV, with participation from Jane VC, Harry Stebbings, Vector, and the Xoogler Syndicate, as well as returning investors Village Global, Sinai, and Shasta Ventures.
Kapwing positions its online media editing tools as a simpler alternative to Final Cut, Adobe Premiere, Photoshop and iMovie. The online editor allows users to collaboratively edit photos, Gifs and videos, and has been optimized to create Instagram Stories, YouTube videos and memes. Kapwing is free to use, and offers a $20 per month subscription tier for advanced users.
The startup first launched its online editing tools 2 years ago, and has since seen users create more than 9 million images, videos, and Gifs. More than 700,000 creators have registered for Kapwing accounts, and media created with the help of Kapwing has been shared on social media by celebrities like Kanye West, Jennifer Lopez, and Joe Jonas.
Kapwing has been founded by former Google product managers Julia Enthoven and Eric Lu. The duo now wants to use the new cash infusion to grow the company’s engineering team.
“We’ve watched online video explode for consumers, and it’s now becoming a core storytelling medium for businesses as well,” said CRV general partner Saar Gur, who joined Kawping’s board in conjunction with the funding. “Kapwing’s product represents an enormous leap forward for creators who want to make better media in a more cost-effective and accessible way.”
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
