If you remember back to the most recent SXSW, there was a massive amount of hype generated that spread through the crowds across all venues like wildfire. I’m talking about Meerkat, the live broadcasting app. I felt like everybody was broadcasting everything: that little, yellow Meerkat was everywhere.
Well, the candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and Meerkat seemingly disappeared as quickly as it rose to fame. What didn’t die, however, was the hype surrounding live broadcasting in general. Which brought forth one of my favorite apps of all time in Periscope. There were others who noticed the trend in popularity for live broadcasting though, and they decided to act on it.
Hang w/ was built to capitalize on live broadcasting by giving their users a chance to connect via live streams and simultaneous chat – much like you can do on Periscope. In that light, users could effectively have dozens, hundreds, or millions of viewers from around the world. However, Hang w/ also built in a revenue model for users via pre and post roll integrated advertising.
The team has been able to evangelize their brand to reach millions of users so far, and they’ve spent a sizable amount of that effort recruiting endorsements from multiple celebrities. Some of the biggest brands and names they’ve gotten to collaborate go well beyond only Jared Leto’s involvement:
- Twiter
- Timbaland
- Common
- Soulja Boy
- Kaskade
- Lucy Hale
- Claudia Jordan
- 50 Cent
- The UFC
“I believe we are entering a golden age in technology,” says Leto, current board member at Hang w/. “Creative minds are harnessing what’s possible to take human relationships to the next level. Hang w/ weaves together some of the most powerful technological elements – including mobility, social media and live streaming – into one platform.”
All of these partnerships are, no doubt about it, awesome for Hang w/, but they just secured a new one that’s going to elevate them and the live broadcasting trend to new heights. Hang w/ has officially announced a partnership with Chance Barnett’s Crowdfunder so that they can launch personalized, unique crowdfunding equity campaigns for their user base.
“Crowdfunding has changed the game for savvy investors looking to get involved in tomorrow’s technology companies,” says Andrew Maltin, CEO of Hang w/. “It used to be that only Bay Area Venture Capitalists had access to investment opportunities like this one. Today, accredited investors from across the country have the same level of access. We believe equity crowdfunding will help us reach our funding goals – while simultaneously expanding our platform’s base of fervent supporters.”
Crowdfunder is no stranger to partnerships with high profile names either. They’ve helped successfully fund venture backed and celebrity led campaigns – which is one of Hang w/’s strengths – for Yao Ming’s Yao Family Wines and Neil Young’s PonoMusic, to name a few.
So, what does all this mean for Hang w/? Well, their unique Crowdfunder campaigns will allow accredited investors to get involved in the early stages of celebrity backed initiatives and startups. That is, they’ll open up new doors and lower barriers to entry for investors to access technologies ready to scale across iOS, Facebook, Twitter, and web platforms
“Crowdfunder is an excellent vehicle for companies like Hang w/ to tell a compelling story and leverage the influencers involved to drive actual investment into their company. We are excited to be teamed up with Hang w/ as they continue to grow and scale,” Crowdfunder CEO, Chance Barnett.
According to Maltin, the true value lies in the fact that investors receive equity in Hang w/. Outside of that, he’s promising some jaw dropping perks to investors at carious levels courtesy of their celebrity users and investors. Check out the full list and learn more here.
Image Credit: Free Stock Photos