We were interviewed for our recent announcement for funding, I am sharing this version below because the reporter listened to the same story we share with others, but this one written with the persona of the reader in mind, Venture Capitalists. See below as the description for what iMemories does, and why it got funding, is crafted so that likely readers (baby boomers) can hear the story in the same way we would share or tell it at a party or social event.
Thank you Tomio Geron for telling the iMemories story in a way my parents would understand. In iMemories terms this is our customer persona we call the “Family Historian” or “Family Matriach,” This is one of our largest target segments who has the desire to reflect on memories or life events and discretionary income to take action.
Dow Jones Venture Wire
By Tomio Geron
8/12/2009
Those boxes full of old videotapes and photos just take up space in many homes. But iMemories Inc., which has raised $6.2 million in Series B financing from Capital Southwest, hopes to turn those dusty old physical media artifacts into new online social media.
Valuation and the company’s financial figures were not disclosed.
People can send iMemories their old videos and photos and the company has an automated system for digitizing the media. The company charges $10 per video digitized and $0.50 per photo. People can then view them online or order a DVD hard copy.
The company also has a subscription business. People can pay $5 per month for 100 gigabytes of hosting of the photos and videos that iMemories digitizes, as well as any other digital photos or videos that people want to upload. About 50% of people who digitize their photos with iMemories also sign up for the subscription service.
People can then share them with friends and family in a password-protected environment. Unlike services like YouTube, the video can be any length.
“We can handle an enormous amount of volume,” said Mark Rukavina, founder and chief executive of iMemories. “The number one thing is we delight our customers and make it really easy for them.”
IMemories also keeps a high-resolution version of any video or photo it digitizes so that people can later order a better copy suitable for watching on a high-definition television, rather than just a computer screen.
The company has recently announced partnerships with two large companies, Best Buy Co. Inc. and Blockbuster Inc., which are helping to sell iMemories.
Founded in 2006, iMemories previously raised $3.6 million in angel financing in 2008 led by Doug Ducey, former chief executive of Cold Stone Creamery.
Rukavina is a serial entrepreneur, having been chief operating officer of Mastering Computers Inc., which went public and then sold to Platinum Technology Inc. in 1998, and co-founder of KnowledgeNet Inc., which sold to Thomson Corp. in 2004.
The round of funding was reported last month by VentureWire, citing a regulatory filing, and the company officially announced the round and the investor on Tuesday. Bill Ashbaugh, senior vice president with Capital Southwest, will take a seat on the company’s board of directors.
