VideoVerse is a video tech company that encapsulates an ecosystem of smart video editing tools using AI for all enterprise and individual content creators. Vinayak is the CEO and Co-founder of VideoVerse. Vinayak along with his partners Saket Dandotia, and Alok Patil identified a need for automation in the video content category, giving way to the inception of VideoVerse.
In his current role, Vinayak spearheads the strategic goals of the company to create a profitable future roadmap. He has built the sales and marketing strategy from scratch and under his leadership, the company has witnessed a significant growth of over 200% year on year.
Vinayak shares more in an exclusive interview with Broadcast and Film.
Q: Tell me a little about yourself. What’s the story behind you and Magnifi by VideoVerse?
I launched VideoVerse in 2016 along with several co-founders. We saw an opportunity to disrupt the content industry. Having previously worked closely with the media in my role as a venture capitalist, I knew first-hand there was a major gap between consumers’ seemingly endless demand for video content and the often time-consuming and inefficient process of creating that content.
I spearhead the company’s strategic goals to create a profitable future roadmap. I’ve built the sales and marketing strategy from scratch and, under my leadership, the company has witnessed a significant growth of over 200% year on year.
Q: When you look at the broadcast, film, sports and entertainment industries today, what do you feel are the key demands/needs from consumers? How can content creators/producers meet those needs?
Personalised content that is relevant, accessible and, most importantly, available on the go is what consumers need most today. The changing consumption patterns need a quick turnaround on how content is produced, edited and thereafter published with relevant CTA and platform optimisation.
The increased demand for video content has given birth to the use of disruptive technology tools to ensure quicker production, ease of use and lower costs, which ensure the end goal - greater viewer engagement - is met. AI-enabled tools not only bring a breath of fresh air but have also made the entire production process democratic without the need for specialised skills.
Q: Short-form videos are increasingly the way people, particularly young people, consume content today - accounting for an estimated 40% of all videos on social media. How can the latest video editing technology help content creators thrive in this format?
In the current era of exploding video content, understanding the user experience and being able to capitalize on that understanding will be key to creating new value. Using certain parameters, organizations can create short-form video content from any perspective and test which key moments garner maximum viewership. This analysis helps content owners evaluate and refine the messaging and storytelling to support new subscriber growth and retention.
For any sports or media platform, the ability to create a 360° fan engagement, using more tailored or theme-based content and channels, can be a key differentiator. AI-led personalisation works on all these factors and helps reduce the costs of customer acquisition, offering customised recommendations of relevant content and increasing average user content consumption, thereby increasing engagement and LTV. The ability to personalise new and old content and share it across all platforms in real-time using AI generates a far higher ROI than doing it manually.
Q: We certainly see short-form videos trending among sports fans, particularly young fans who prefer to watch “bite-size” clips and highlight reels of games instead of watching the entire thing. Additionally, many fans want hyper-personalized content featuring their favourite teams or players and they want it instantly. How can AI help sports producers/marketers adapt to this?
This evolving consumption pattern has opened new challenges on ways to produce engaging, relatable content that empowers the viewer, provides entertainment and supports up-skilling opportunities for the creators. In my experience, Artificial Intelligence has played a rather significant role in addressing these challenges.
Meta-Tag and get the best out of every content
AI and ML have revamped the media production and post-production workflow. Machine-powered content cataloging and metadata tagging enable the creation of automated work processes that reduce human error.
Capture the best of every angle
Face Recognition proves to be the bulwark of AI in media production - the cognition to identify faces added to the metadata enables the search featuring a person superlatively easier.
By leveraging AI, users can automate things like applying filters, adding transitions and re-sizing for social media, allowing broadcasting companies to create bite-sized videos in minutes rather than hours. Likewise, various AI-powered tools help users automatically find suitable content to complement their videos – and, AI can organise massive amounts of footage much faster than a human while eliminating errors from the video editing process. In fact, one of our football broadcast clients noted a 75% reduction in editing time and substantial cost savings from automating their digital content production. Moreover, AI video editing platforms like Magnifi can independently create new versions of existing content or suggest changes to the user.
Q: In the film industry, projects are often long-form but there are lots of regulations to adhere to. For example, countries often have different rules for what kind of content can be shown in films. How can AI-powered video editing technology help filmmakers and producers refine and amend their projects as needed without having to spend significant time to do so? Does this application have pre-defined rules engines as per the country? Does this have skin exposure detection, etc.?
While video content is being democratised and used across geographies, content appropriateness is becoming a very important aspect in its distribution. Understanding the importance of this, AI-based engines can ensure automatic video compliance with the click of a button. Proprietary technology like ours understands the context of the video and its content to identify any non-compliant objects in it, flagging them and taking the right action to mitigate them.
Our platform not only facilitates content moderation but also blurs inappropriate or sensitive content objects across live as well as recorded feed, making it a comprehensive risk mitigation tool. In addition to many other features, our AI engine revolutionises video content while protecting the content creators and distributors against risks.
Q: The Indian M&E industry is estimated to be valued at $27–29Bn in 2022. With the Industry witnessing strong growth tailwinds, it is poised to grow to $55–65Bn by 2030 with a potential to reach $65–70Bn, driven by growth in O.T.T. and gaming.
Indian sports broadcasting revenue is expected to grow by 10% CAGR to reach US$ 1.6 billion by FY26. How do you look at this development and how strongly does the Indian market factor into your growth strategy?
Television remains the largest media platform in India, covering time spent as well as consumer reach. As per KPMG Analysis 2022, the number of TV households in India is expected to reach 250 million by 2026, from 210 million in 2020.
Sports has the highest reach among all genres on TV. Advertisers’ interest in sports broadcasts has grown strongly with increasing viewership and demographic reach offered by sports properties. For us, this is a very strong industry and we already have a large stake in it. India is a critical market for us and we will continue to focus on market-specific, innovative techniques for India that we can build on.
Q: Looking to the future, where do you see the film, broadcast, sports and entertainment industries going? How will the relationship between content creators and consumers evolve and what role will video editing technology play?
These industries will need to focus on hyper-personalised content for consumers who want very specific output on demand. This will, in turn, force content creators/producers/editors to rely on AI for speed, detail and efficiency.
As technology advances, creating content is easier than ever but AI-enabled tools in video editing are necessary to accommodate the variety of taste we see in our society - a trend which will shape the future.