Back in 2012, four entrepreneurs from Portland knew that both digital audio and video consumption was on the rise in the music industry. But while platforms like YouTube had no problem making revenue off music videos, it seemed companies such as Pandora and iHeartRadio had a more difficult time turning a profit.
That’s when a lightbulb went off — what if there was a way for audio platforms to also show videos while streaming music online?
The result of that idea is Vadio, a Portland startup that recently raised $2 million from a handful of music industry vets and inked a key partnership with video content provider Vevo.
“We evolve audio platforms into video,” said Vadio co-founder and CEO Bryce Clemmer.
Vadio’s technology is essentially a media matchmaker, helping companies that stream music online also show the music video of a given song at the same time. The idea is to give listeners an added visual element to their listening experience, while offering the streaming companies an added revenue stream.
“Instead of purely listening to music, you can listen and watch,” Clemmer said.
Vadio, a graduate of the Portland Incubator Experiment and Portland Seed Fund, makes money with a revenue-sharing model by partnering with customers like Virgin Radio and European Media Group. Clemmer noted that the startup is in talks with “every major streaming platform in the world.”
Vadio’s investors include Ed Wilson, former President of NBC Enterprises; Robin Richards, former CEO of Vivendi Universal Net USA; Marc Geiger, Co-Founder of Lollapalooza and Partner at William Morris Endeavor; and Irwin Federman, partner at U.S. Venture Partners.
