VidMob, which started out as a marketplace connecting marketers and video editors, now bills itself as a “creative technology platform.” There’s still a marketplace, but it’s part of a broader suite of tools for managing video production and turning those videos into online ads.

And the company has continued to evolve during the COVID-19 pandemic. Founder and CEO Alex Collmer told me that how customers use the platform has changed substantially in recent months. For example, he said that one of the platform’s “best skills” involved taking existing footage — including footage shot for TV commercials — and other creative assets and turning them into social media ads. But of course, “Over the last few months, all physical shoots were canceled.”

So Collmer said that rather than simply treating VidMob as a social media advertising tool, brands are increasingly turning to the startup for a way to manage remote video production. The result is that the company saw 100% year-over-year “logo growth” (a.k.a. new customers) in the first quarter, and then grew another 50% in Q2.

“What we have seen here is the acceleration of the digital transformation of the enterprise,” he said. “Pretty much every client we have, every marketer we talk to is looking very seriously at how to move all their creative operations onto some sort of unifying software platform, so that they feel safe in the event that they continue to have to work in a remote environment, and to be more efficient with existing media.”

One of those clients is Citi, whose vice president of corporate communications Megan Corbett told me her team has been working with VidMob since last year. She said that as as a result of the pandemic, like many marketers, “We were required to really be flexible and adjust and scale programs quickly.”

For example, in response to the #InItTogether hashtag, Citi used VidMob to create a series of inspirational videos showcasing the work of its employees — such as Mihir in the video above, who was 3D printing protective equipment for his communities.

“As we thought about how we told the stories, we realized that your colleagues are some of the most important heroes that you have,” Corbett said.

According to Citi, the videos have been viewed nearly 250,000 times since the campaign launched in early May, with 80% of that viewing on LinkedIn.

And although dealing with the initial pandemic and shutdown was difficult enough, the news keeps coming, with protests for racial justice, a COVID-19 resurgence, resulting closures and more.

“We’re going to be in a period of uncertainty for a while, but to be honest, I see that as an opportunity,” Corbett said. “Brands who understand what their consumers want, brands who are tuned into the cultural zeitgeist, brands [who] pivot quickly to create content that is relevant and engaging and drive business KPIs … that will be what wins in the future.”

Similarly, Collmer said that in a period of uncertainty, brands need to respond more quickly, rather than simply falling silent: “Shutting up and going away is not a great way to position yourself.”

Don’t worry, we speak : English (Inglés), too!

Contxto – Las empresas saben que la seguridad de datos es invaluable, por lo tanto los inversionistas también lo saben. 

Hoy (14), la startup de ciberseguridad Auth0 anunció su ronda de inversión serie F por US$120 millones. 

La inversión fue liderada por Salesforce Ventures a quien se unió DTCP, así como inversionistas anteriores: Bessemer Venture Partners, Sapphire Ventures, Meritech Capital, World Innovation Lab, Trinity Ventures, Telstra Ventures y K9 Ventures.

Como resultado, ahora la startup está valuada en US$1,920 millones y ha recaudado más de US$330 millones en equity. Su ronda de inversión anterior fue en mayo del 2019 cuando cerró US$103 millones y se ganó el título de unicornio. 

Curiosamente, la startup fue un poco renuente a compartir cómo se utilizarían los fondos. Solo informó que los utilizaría para “alimentar la innovación y la expansión de posicionamiento en el mercado”.

No obstante, uno de sus inversionistas pudo haber dado una pista de hacia dónde se dirigen.

Nada va a detener a Auth0

Algunas startup se vieron en apuros con la pandemia de coronavirus y la incertidumbre económica. 

Sin embargo, Auth0 informa que 2019 y, hasta ahora, el 2020 han sido amables con ella. 

En 2019 su base de clientes e ingresos crecieron un 70 por ciento. Declara que su rápido crecimiento ha continuado durante el segundo trimestre de este año. Eso también explica el interés de Salesforce Ventures por la startup.

“Auth0 es líder en el vasto mercado de gestión de identidades de rápido crecimiento y ha demostrado un enorme crecimiento a escala”, dijo John Somorjai, Executive Vice President of Corporate Development & Salesforce Ventures.

• Artículo relacionado: El unicornio argentino, Auth0, entre las startups tecnológicas de más rápido crecimiento en los EE.UU., dice Deloitte

Para el alemán DTCP, el enfoque de la startup en la creación de productos amigables con los desarrolladores es importante.

El fondo de capital de riesgo (VC) también declaró “utilizaremos nuestras raíces europeas y nuestra red global estratégica para ayudar al equipo Auth0 a continuar su trayectoria de crecimiento”.

¿Será que la startup planea lanzar en los mercados europeos? Además, DTCP también tiene oficinas en San Francisco y Corea del Sur. Todo esto son solo especulaciones mías, por eso nos pusimos en contacto con Auth0 para conseguir más información al respecto. 

De cualquier forma, acaba de recibir fondos y está recargada para dominar el mercado de las soluciones de gestión de identidad. 

Microsoft e IBM, estén atentos.

Artículos relacionados: ¡Tecnología y startups de Argentina!

-ML

Traducido por Alejandra Rodríguez

TechCrunch launches a major new initiative, Amazon tests a smart shopping cart and ICE backs down from its controversial student visa rule change. Here’s your Daily Crunch for July 14, 2020.

The big story: Behold, The TechCrunch List

Back in June we published a story with the rather grandiose headline “How we’re rebuilding the VC industry. It was, in effect, announcing The TechCrunch List, which has been a months-long project to bring more transparency to who actually writes first checks for startups.

Today, we published the list — or at least the first version. I’ll let Managing Editor Danny Crichton explain:

The TechCrunch List is a verified, curated list of investors who have demonstrated a commitment to first checks and leading rounds from seed through growth, organized by market vertical …

Ultimately, The TechCrunch List is a living and breathing directory of the most active VCs who are willing to lead in the industry. We intend for the List to be regularly updated as founders give us more recommendations and investors change their tastes and their portfolios.

You can read about the 11 VCs who got the most enthusiastic recommendations from founders (Extra Crunch membership required) and browse the full list.

The tech giants

Amazon to test Dash Cart, a smart grocery shopping cart that sees what you buy — The cart, which will identify and charge you for items placed inside its basket, will first be tested in the Amazon grocery store opening in Woodland Hills, California.

UK U-turns on Huawei and 5G, giving operators until 2027 to rip out existing kit — The U.K. government is forbidding telcos from buying 5G equipment from Huawei and ZTE, and must remove any equipment from those companies by 2027.

Google Play Pass expands outside the US, adds more titles and annual pricing — Play Pass is the Android alternative to Apple Arcade, offering subscription access to a variety of apps and games.

Startups, funding and venture capital

Identity platform Auth0 raises $120M Series F funding round at $1.92B valuation — Developers can just add a few lines of code to connect applications to Auth0’s identity management service.

Blackstone’s growth investors lead a $200 million investment into Oatly, the oat-milk juggernaut — Celebrity investors include Oprah Winfrey, Roc Nation, Natalie Portman and former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. (I’ve tried the milk. It was fine.)

Everything you could possibly want to learn about fundraising will be covered at TC Early Stage — There will be in-depth sessions, as well as fireside chats with Figma’s Dylan Field, Minted.com’s Mariam Naficy, Sequoia’s James Buckhouse and Jess Lee and Greylock’s Reid Hoffman and Sarah Guo.

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

Investors are browsing for Chromium startups — Lucas Matney offers an overview of interesting browser startups building on top of Google’s Chromium project.

The IPO market stays hot, as nCino prices above range and Jamf targets a ~$2B valuation — Alex Wilhelm has the latest on IPO pricing.

(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our subscription membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)

Everything else

After colleges sue, ICE backs down from student visa rule change — A dozen universities and colleges threatened legal action against the administration’s order to revoke visas for international students studying at U.S. colleges that plan to provide their classes exclusively online in the fall.

NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock officially launches tomorrow — The service has already been available to parent company Comcast’s Xfinity X1 and Flex cable customers since April, but tomorrow marks the launch to a general audience, with anyone in the United States able to sign up and access Peacock on a range of devices (but not Roku or Amazon Fire TV).

Hand-crank a level of Super Mario Bros. on Lego’s new 2,646-piece NES kit — This is beautiful but I would definitely lose some of those pieces.

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 3pm Pacific, you can subscribe here.