Amsterdam-based Vylo, a social media app that offers short-form video and audio hosting service and news commentary, has announced the launch of its “social media news” app.
Vylo recently announced that it has raised pre-Seed funding. The funding helped the company in developing its app, as well as an intuitive backend complete with machine learning & automated moderation and AI feed logic.
The app was launched on Monday, January 16. Its public beta version has already drawn over 500 users, according to TechCrunch.
Investors supporting Vylo
Vylo’s pre-Seed round was backed by Kleiner Perkins’ Fairchild Fund IV. The round also saw participation from Brian Cornell (CEO of Target), Ryan Howard (3x MLB All-Star, World Series Champion, NL MVP), Curt Shi (Welinder Shi Capital), 8808 Ventures (Venture firm of Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse), and other angel investors.
The founder of lifestyle company RVCA, Pat Tenore, has joined the advisory board of Vylo, supporting the company’s mission to interact with real-world fans and foster value in the MMA, sports, and lifestyle communities inside the Vylo app.
According to TC, Vylo raised $1.2M in its pre-Seed round.
How is Vylo different from its competitors?
Vylo seeks to disrupt the industry through a human-first social integration of news content and distribution. It is putting a particular emphasis on the influence of various viewpoints and ideas on various news subjects, and gathering such debates under one roof.
Co-founder and CEO of Vylo, Tyler Reynolds, says, “When you look at where we’re at with social media and the instant ability to connect with people and hear what they think on different topics, then look at current news app offerings, there’s a stark contrast in app value on a social level. We’ve built a news app from what we see is missing – meaningful dialogue around the news that you can immediately tap into. We are hyper-focused to add as much of this social media value as we can into the news.”
“We are social beings – we formulate our thoughts and perspectives through social interaction and by connecting with people and hearing points of view. This happens intermittently online and offline at different times and on different apps, but there is no single destination that delivers an instant, open-loop ecosystem that serves up news and provides immediate access to people’s perspectives, especially those people we look to as thought leaders,” says Reynolds.
Vylo no longer restricts the delivery of news to formal commentators, academics, or news presenters. By challenging conventional views of the news category, the company claims it is attempting to create what the future of news may include.
Reynolds adds, “Strangely in a world where we’re digitally interconnected in virtually all aspects of life, the way we’re receiving news and how news is offered to the public is largely unchanged and one-directional. We believe in creating a news platform that offers insightful and interesting video and audio news commentary directly attached and accessible to news articles.”
About Vylo
Founded in 2021 by Tyler Reynolds and Daniel Lippert, Vylo is a social media app that offers short-form video and audio hosting services as well as a social networking app for news commentary. The app offers a platform for users to make and explore video and audio comments to news stories of interest as well as curated news from top news sources.
Users can explore other users’ video and audio news reactions, which encourages discussion and debate. The app also allows users the chance to write, post, and publish their own unique user news viewpoints and material.
Users can also follow other users to add their material to a personal feed, examine trending publisher content, and trending user content in response to news and find postings “insightful”.
In the near future, Vylo says it will provide a revenue-sharing commission scheme with users and creators. The social media news app is available on both iOS and Android.
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