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Camera IQ Raises Series A led by Shasta Ventures to Define the Future of Camera MarketingLOS ANGELES, Sept. 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Camera IQ, the world's first augmented reality platform for camera marketing, today announced an additional $5 million in Series A funding, bringing its total funding raised to-date to over $14 million. Led by Shasta Ventures, the round also includes participation from existing investors Waverly Capital, Betaworks Ventures, Sway Ventures, as well as new investors Grand Ventures, Space Capital, and Gingerbread Capital. COVID tailwinds are accelerating augmented reality (AR) adoption on social platforms as consumers spend more time online. With over four billion daily active camera users on social, the numbers are in – and AR is here to stay. 75% of consumers are using AR on a daily basis, leading to an 85% year-over-year increase in time spent in AR, AR is not only driving marketing engagement, it is now measurably increasing the likelihood of conversion by up to 250%. Camera IQ's newly launched platform enables brand marketers to drive business objectives while easily creating, managing and measuring scalable augmented reality (AR) campaigns that reach audiences across social media and streaming platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitch, Zoom and more. "For beauty brands building e-commerce businesses, AR and virtual try-on are essential to providing the user experience to incentivize purchases," said Elaine Chen, Vice President of Brand Marketing and Innovation at wet n wild Beauty/Markwins. "In our latest campaign with Camera IQ, we included two AR experiences to promote the highly-anticipated launch of our Sanrio collaboration featuring My Melody and Kuromi, giving users the ability to visualize themselves as the cult characters while wearing the products from our collection. With virtual try-on, Camera IQ enabled us to not only build authentic brand affinity but also drive real business ROI. The My Melody experience saw a 47.4% play rate, and the Kuromi experience saw a 63.8% play rate, generating excitement and amplifying exposure for the collection which has largely sold-out online." In 2020, Camera IQ customers have seen a record number of AR experiences reach in excess of one million viws. AR share rates on Instagram and Facebook have increased 43% and 23% respectively in Q2, and Snap Camera usage (which powers AR in Twitch, Zoom and Google Hangouts) has increased 33x since the start of the year. AR is Driving Next-Generation Consumer Engagement and Conversion
Democratizing Camera Marketing to Make Business Goals a Reality The funds will be used to make key hires in sales and marketing, as well as on product development with an emphasis on expanding distribution to new platforms to further its mission to democratize the camera and AR technology for brands across the globe. "When I met with Camera IQ's co-founders, Allison Ferenci and Sonia Tsao in 2016, they painted a picture of the key role that the camera would play in our daily lives," said Jacob Mullins, Partner at Shasta Ventures. "Since then, they have continuously delivered and are now the category leaders for Camera Marketing, becoming a trusted partner to leading brands in the music, beauty, media, and gaming industries." About Camera IQ We are a team of talented, diverse, and open-minded engineers, designers and marketers committed to democratizing the camera and AR technology. We are building a future where the camera is the new start menu, where audiences and brands can interact seamlessly with each other and co-create brand new worlds for all to explore. If this excites you, you've come to the right place. For more information, visit cameraiq.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @cameraiqco. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/camera-iq-raises-series-a-led-by-shasta-ventures-to-define-the-future-of-camera-marketing-301137111.html SOURCE Camera IQ |