Vyrill Inc.

Vyrill has set out to become “Google for video.”

Just as the popular search engine enables users to find relevant text-based content online, this company’s software enables brands to discover and analyze user-generated video content (UGV).

With its proprietary Artificial Intelligence, Vyrill’s software-as-a-service helps brands capture, view, and license authentic UGV fast, and at scale.

Brands can capitalize on positive, trending video-based content, and react quickly to any negative content at the same time. By using Vyrill’s video aggregation and analysis software, brands can see an immediate return on their investment — sometimes within 72 hours.

Vyrill is a timely solution for brands. Prior to Covid-19, user-generated video content was already growing at a 200% rate. However, since the onset of the pandemic, the creation of UGV and video consumption has exploded more than 600%.

Today, 85% of consumers say that videos influence their purchasing decisions. As such, UGV has become essential to brands seeking to increase revenue.

The problem is that brands and retailers struggle to capture and understand UGV posted across the internet and social media platforms. Brand marketers are looking for ways to understand who is posting video content, when and where, and what consumers are saying about their products in the videos. They also want to know how to leverage content such as product reviews, how-to lessons, and “unboxing” videos.

These are the problems Vyrill set out to solve. Simply put, this company’s mission is to empower brands with the best organic UGV and insights that enable product marketing, lead generation, and increased sales.

Vyrill initially set out to build a “video refinery.” Similar to an oil refinery, this platform was designed to process “crude video” and extract data and insights. This content would not only be usable for brands, but also save them time and money.

So the company spent three years researching and developing technology to watch and understand millions of videos. Then, Vyrill realized that its platform could benefit brands further by analyzing videos to match them with products, brands, and their competitors. The result was Vyrill’s Software-as-a-Service offering.

The key to Vyrill’s software is proprietary technology. This technology consists of eight data sets that analyze video, text, audio, and images. Data sets include analyzing the demographics, sentiment, topic, and statistics within a video.

For Vyrill’s customers, which include brands like Porsche, Revlon, Dell, and Sargento, the process involves four simple steps:

First, capture and match to find the best video reviews.

Second, analyze matched videos for reputation, brand safety, and content.

Third, license this content to acquire the rights for product marketing at scale.

And fourth, distribute this content to product pages, apps, or homepages to increase conversion rates.

Notably, a recent project using Vyrill’s software amounted to analyzing 3,000 videos with an average length of more than 16 minutes. The amount of time and energy saved added up to roughly $21,000 for the customer.

By using Vyrill’s software, customers reap benefits such as:

• Receiving alerts when consumers post videos about their brands in real-time.

• Receiving UGV metrics, enabling them to make decisions with confidence.

• Learning about positive and negative content. This enables brands to capitalize on positive content, and respond quickly to negative feedback.

• Monitoring competitors within their respective industry.

Customers pay for video aggregation, capture, insights, and campaign management services. The price varies between $500 and $8,000 per month, and depends on the number of videos analyzed.

Vyrill generates additional revenue through licensing fees. Customers can pay a flat fee for a high volume of licensing transactions, or a 20% success fee per individual transaction.

Vyrill launched an alpha version of its software in 2018, and integrated with YouTube. In 2019, it released a beta version of its platform, and integrated with Dropbox.

Team Background

Barbara Rosario - Co-Founder & CTO

Barbara has a background in Artificial Intelligence, human computer interaction, and mobile technology.

She began as a research associate with the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge, where she worked on the development of neural networks for predicting health conditions.

She then took her experience at Cambridge to MIT, where she served as a visiting scholar for a year. She was also a visiting lecturer at the University of California Berkeley.

More recently, Barbara was a research scientist with Intel Labs, a computer science research company. She then was a technical consultant with Technicolor, a technology company focused on the entertainment industry.

She earned a Master’s degree in Physics from the Universita degli Studi di Trieste and a Ph.D. in Computer and Information Sciences from UC Berkeley.

Ajay Bam - Co-Founder & CEO

Ajay has 13 years of experience leading startups, focusing on web/mobile product development, digital commerce, and software-as-a-service.

He began his career as a systems analyst with Lehman Brothers, an investment firm. He then co-founded Modiv Media, a company providing mobile shopper marketing solutions. Modiv was acquired in 2009 by Catalina Marketing, a retail marketing company.

More recently, Ajay spent nearly four years with Nokia, a telecommunications company. He served as a senior global product manager and a global product management leader. After that, he co-founded Produk.me, a company that helps consumer brands market product videos to customers.

He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Mumbai, a Master’s degree in Software Engineering from East Tennessee State University, and an MBA from Babson College.

Co-Investors

Berkeley Skydeck

A research university accelerator that serves as a launchpad for startups.

Panache Ventures

A venture capital firm specializing in seed-stage startups.

gener8tor

An accelerator that invests in early-stage startups.