PublicVine, a US-based social video platform founded by a Nigerian, Nam Mokwunye, has secured investment worth over $5 million in a bid to commence its global launch billed for June 2014.
PublicVine is designed to rival existing video platforms like YouTube but offers video content owners and distributor’s opportunity to be paid by viewers.
Nam Mokwunye, CEO, PublicVine, said in details made available to our correspondent that the firm was out to revolutionise video content distribution and use globally, as “what PublicVine will be doing is to present film makers, video vendors and consumers a marketplace for them to transact business. It is an online social video marketplace that enables video vendors and their consumers to connect, transact, and get paid.
“We have secured about $5 million investment in the United States due to the potential that people had seen in it.”
He said PublicVine was pioneering a new innovation in online video distribution, saying the firm had already started video vendor registration starting from Nigeria due to the huge potential existing in the market.
“We have seen the local film industry grow astronomically and observed that latent potential for further growth. PublicVine believes that with our online marketplace, greater market can be created for the country as vendors get opportunity to own online distribution channels on PublicVine. This will create greater efficiency and also increase value for local video and film industry,” he said.
He added that beginning with Nigeria and South Africa, PublicVine would make it possible for video vendors in sub-Saharan Africa to open their own online video stores to rent and sell their music videos, documentaries, and films to consumers globally.
Discussions had been held with several telecommunication companies about a marketing partnership that would make PublicVine available to their (telecom companies’) subscription base within South Africa and into the rest of Africa, he said.
The firm, he added, is now fully immersed in fine-tuning and launching PublicVine, the social video marketplace that is also its flagship platform.
