UK video startup Mydeo has created a bespoke video sharing service for the giant US retailer Best Buy. Best Buy Video Sharing is a subscription-based service for users to upload their personal videos for storing, sharing on web sites and blogs. The service will be merchandised online and in Best Buy’s retail stores. Best Buy will also take a minority, equity stake in Mydeo, though the amount has not been disclosed.
Unlike many other video sharing services, the service will allow the user to choose who can view their home videos, and, being subscription-based, won’t display ads. Base plans start at $6.97 for 100 minutes of video hosting and video lengths up to 30 minutes each. Customers can chose premium plans for extended video lengths, additional video storage capacity, and other sharing features.
Cary Marsh, CEO and Founder of Mydeo says the service will allow users to “show their high quality videos to friends and family, without exposing their personal movies on public sites, without advertising, or giving away any distribution rights.”
Mydeo originally started in 2005 from a small South West London office with local government grants, but it has since won private investment and become Microsoft’s first European ‘Movie Maker’ hosting partner.
Would anyone still care about mydeo if it wasn’t for their pretty MD.
interesting to see Best Buy’s approach to video sharing of pursuing families (i.e. not teens / young adults, etc.) and also adopting a subscription based money making model instead of the ever present “post your ad publicly, draw huge crowds, charge for advertising” one. It’ll be interesting to see if this approach gains traction.
@ Andrew…actually Mydeo is interesting for the reason Ben supplies – a different business model. Thats what makes them worth watching.
Thanks for your kind words Andrew – Cary will be flattered.
We felt there was a lot of synergy in the deal. Best Buy are the largest electronics retailer in the US; around a third of the video cameras sold each year in the US come from Best Buy. Significantly for us, a huge percentage of those are sold to Mydeo’s key target audiences of families and small businesses – as Ben points out – not to the early-adopters or Gen X/Y that obsess so many. Best Buy have been actively investing in products and services to allow them to move beyond selling devices – to create longevity in the brand relationship through provision of services that can yield revenue as well as loyalty – like Mydeo’s.
So Cary and I are pretty proud of our deal. For the record, the whole thing has been done over the phone and via email. So not only do Best Buy have little idea what she looks like, but we’ve kept our carbon conscience clean as well
Well done Mydeo. Always good to see another London-based startup get in the lime-light.
Great post Iain. good to see a UK start up doing business in the US
Kudos Mydeo!
It’s great to see that you always kept believing in your service and not followed the “trend” that took many companies down. Sounds like a great deal that will bring on others.
Good luck!
-lagon
Andrew – hope you feel ashamed of your post, pathetic.
Well done Cary & Iain, having started a business myself I know how bloody tough it is to make a success of anything, let alone the strides forward you guys have…brilliant.
I am sure Best Buy, will benefit from having Mydeo on their team.
Good luck.
Roger
Yes – congratulations Cary and Iain – that’s brilliant news and I know how much hard work you put into it. I’m sure it will be a great success. good luck!