26 March 2024
Blackbird plc
(the "Company")
Blackbird announces general release of
elevate.io
Blackbird plc (AIM:BIRD), the technology
licensor, developer and seller of market-leading cloud native video
editing platform, Blackbird®, announces the general
release of elevate.io, its
new creator SaaS product, according to its previously announced
timeframe.
Blackbird
plc's CEO, Ian McDonough, commented:
"This is a proud and exciting moment. The
Company's highly scalable and web native video technology has
always leant itself to becoming a mass market play, and the world
is now starting to appreciate the scale, growth and future
commercial potential of the Creator Economy.
"Our goal is that, over time, elevate.io will come to define how
content is created and stories are told individually and through
collaborating in teams."
elevate.io, the
Company's new SaaS video content creation and editing platform is
built using the Company's core patented Blackbird®
technology. The platform aims to address key pain points facing
creators today, including: complexity of tools; cumbersome
collaboration with other users; and limited extensibility. The
platform will evolve iteratively with fast development turnaround
cycles to add functionality and features. To gain user adoption,
elevate.io has initially
been released as a free product and will move to a freemium model
over time.
elevate.io's
disruptive features include real time multiplayer
collaboration in a browser. It is designed to solve existing
content creation problems.
The platform's vision includes plug in
architecture enabling elevate.io to be a hub for many
3rd party capabilities, including analytical and
generative Artificial Intelligence. Extending elevate.io's functionality will provide
additional revenue streams and futureproof the platform, enabling
elevate.io to keep pace
with innovative technologies through seamless
integration.
elevate.io has been
built natively in the public cloud, through partnerships with AWS
and other cloud service providers. With this extensive global cloud
infrastructure integrated into its operations, elevate.io will be scalable globally
and at speed. For elevate.io's users, this means
consistent high performance and high availability, regardless of
location.
elevate.io addresses
the wider Creator Economy which, as of April 2023, was valued at
approximately $250 billion[1] and is set to double in size by 2027.
The tools and services segment of the market which applies directly
to elevate.io is valued at
approximately $20 billion and is estimated to grow to be worth $180
billion by 2032[2], a
CAGR of 25.7%. With existing marquee clients in the high-end
media & entertainment sector, the Company is well positioned to
credibly launch into the creator market.
Blackbird
plc's CEO, Ian McDonough, commented further:
"This project has been in conception since 2021
when we raised money for a direct to creator product, now realised
as elevate.io. It has been
brought to life by the team we hired in 2022, particularly Sumit
Rai, our Chief Product Officer and our world class development
team.
"We now have the chassis of a disruptive
product that can already be used to create high quality content.
Our goal is that, over time, elevate.io will come to define how
content is created and stories are told individually and through
collaborating in teams. This has already been seen through the
success of other multiplayer platforms such as Figma and Google
Docs in parallel industries.
"elevate.io will continue to evolve at
pace and, being architected on the public cloud, has the ability to
scale globally."
Blackbird
plc's Chief Product Officer, Sumit Rai,
commented:
"I am delighted that elevate.io is now on general release,
bringing powerful content creation tools to the web. elevate.io contains our real time
multiplayer interface which allows teams to collaborate
effortlessly in the browser wherever they are. Easy to use and
efficient editing is underpinned by the Company's core technology
allowing very smooth playback. Feedback so far has been encouraging
including on design and vision. I believe the elevate.io platform will be a game
changer in simplifying and creating efficiencies in post-production
workflows.
"We will continue to iterate on elevate.io with continual updates
adding functionality and features progressing towards our exciting
vision."
Contacts:
Blackbird
plc
Tel: +44 (0)20 8879 7245
Ian McDonough, Chief Executive
Officer
Stephen White, Chief Operating and Financial
Officer
Allenby Capital
Limited (Nominated Adviser and
Broker)
Tel: +44 (0)20 3328 5656
Nick Naylor / Piers Shimwell (Corporate
Finance)
Amrit Nahal / Guy McDougall (Equity Sales and
Corporate Broking)
About Blackbird
plc
Blackbird plc operates in the
fast-growing SaaS and cloud video market. It has created
BlackbirdⓇ, the world's most advanced suite of cloud-native computing
applications for video all underpinned by its lightning fast codec.
Blackbird plc's patented technology allows for frame accurate
navigation, playback, viewing and editing in the cloud.
BlackbirdⓇ enables multiple applications, which are used by rights
holders, broadcasters, sports and news video specialists, live
events and content owners, post production houses, other mass
market digital video channels and corporations.
Since it is cloud-native,
BlackbirdⓇ removes the need for costly, high-end workstations and can be
used from almost anywhere on almost any device. It also allows full
visibility on multi- location digital content, improves time to
market for live content such as video clips and highlights for
digital distribution, and ultimately results in much more effective
monetisation. Blackbird plc is a licensor of its core video
technology under its 'Powered by Blackbird' licensing model.
Enabling video companies to accelerate their path to true cloud
business models, licensees benefit from power and carbon
reductions, cost and time savings, less hardware and bandwidth
requirements and easy scalability. elevate.io, built using
Blackbird core technology, is the company's new creator SaaS
product, a browser based end-to-end content creation tool aimed at
the Creator Economy.
www.blackbird.video
www.linkedin.com/company/blackbird-cloud
www.twitter.com/blackbirdcloud
www.facebook.com/blackbirdplc
www.youtube.com/c/blackbirdcloud
www.elevate.io