Facebook Buys Interactive Video Streaming Technology

Facebook has acqui-hired Vidpresso, a company that works with broadcasters and streamers to make content more interactive.

The social media giants have purchased the startup’s technology but not the company itself. Instead, they will work together to provide independent content creators with the tools to create higher quality videos.

Vidpresso has previously worked with NBC, Fox Sports, TED and more to integrate on-screen polls, social media content and graphics into live broadcasts.  

Representatives of Vidpresso said in a statement: “[Joining Facebook] gives us the best opportunity to accelerate our vision and offer a simple way for creators, publishers, and broadcasters to use social media in live video at a high quality level.

“We’ll be able to offer our tools to a much broader audience than just our A-list publishing partners. Eventually, it’ll allow us to put these tools in the hands of creators, so they can focus on their content, and have it look great, without spending lots of time or money to do so.”

The financial terms of the deal have not been officially disclosed but TechCrunch believes that the startup didn’t come with a huge price tag. They explained: “Vidpresso had only raised a $120,000 in seed capital from Y Combinator in 2014, plus some angel funding.”

Facebook has been spending a lot of time recently ensuring that users are being social and not just passively scrolling. Along with the new ‘Time Well Spent’ features, new additions have been added to the Facebook Live platform.

‘Watch Party’ allows friends to stream public videos at the same time and discuss the content together while watching.

Read more here.