Venture Plan
Mindstamp Plans to Lead the Charge in Interactive Video after Venture Plan Competition Win
Following its 2021 Crummer Venture Plan Competition first-place finish, Mindstamp, says the winnings will be used to invest and expand the delivery of the video platform worldwide.
Mindstamp, an interactive video solution that enables you to create dynamic, personalized, interactive video experiences in seconds, is looking to transform the video industry after their 2021 win in the annual Crummer Rollins Venture Plan Competition.
As the first-place winner, Mindstamp received $25,000 in prize money and part of a total prize package of in-kind services valued at over $100,000.
Operating out of Groundswell Startups in Melbourne, FL, Mindstamp simplifies the process for users to create personalized video marketing assets, engaging product videos, improved training and onboarding content and more. From clickable buttons, hotspots and images to personalized questions and dynamic navigation, Mindstamp turns existing or new video content into engaging value assets for businesses across industries. Mindstamp is a cloud-based solution that works all on devices and operating systems.
Founder and CEO of Mindstamp, Brett Lindenberg, heard of the competition through one of the founders of the startup incubator. Attracted by the prestige and size of the competition, he decided to apply.
Throughout the rounds of the competition, Lindenberg says Mindstamp honed in their story, focusing on who they are and where they are going.
“The biggest value was knowing that we have this great product, but how do we tell the story to others that might not be familiar,” he said. “The Venture Plan Competition really helped us hone in on that.”
Mindstamp started in 2017 as a consumer facing application after Lindenberg moved from Melbourne Beach to Silicon Valley and was simply looking for ways to better share videos with his friends.
“It was initially a super simple tool to add comments on top of videos, so it felt like you were watching a video together” said Lindenberg. “We originally called it Aech.”
Soon after, Aech started receiving traction with agencies interesting in using the technology for video feedback. Sensing an opportunity, Lindenberg pivoted his focus from consumers to businesses and officially launched Mindstamp in October 2018.
Today, Mindstamp is on the cutting-edge of the burgeoning video industry for marketers, corporations, e-commerce companies, and agencies.
“Video is hot, and has been hot for years; it’s all the rage” said Lindenberg. “Everyone has a video strategy in place nowadays.”
Lindenberg says the next phase in video is interactive video, and the COVID-19 pandemic was a huge accelerator of that.
“COVID resulted in a huge interest boost with everyone moving remote,” he said. “Even before COVID, we had businesses coming to us saying they spend lots of money producing videos, but how could they get more out of it?”
Mindstamp has seen rapid growth since the onset of the pandemic, including a 20% growth just over the past month.
“Interactive video is more interesting to viewers, more engaging in its content, and more immediately actionable. In fact, 24% of businesses plan to use interactive video this year simply because it’s more differentiated and impactful,” said Lindenberg.
Moving forward, Mindstamp is in the process of deploying their go-to-market strategy. The winnings from the Venture Plan Competition will provide a great boost as they look to expand.
“The Crummer Rollins Venture Plan Competition was perfectly timed as Mindstamp continues to accelerate its growth. It allowed us to focus on who our customers are and how interactive video can dramatically enhance their marketing, sales and training, regardless of industry,” said Brett Lindenberg, Mindstamp founder and CEO. “We’ll invest the $25,000 grand prize to expand the delivery of Mindstamp’s simple, powerful and tremendously high-value video platform worldwide. Marketing executives, corporate communications teams and training organizations can drive more value from video with Mindstamp.”
Selected from 48 submitted proposals, finalists along with Mindstamp included 2nd place Athliance, a solution designed to educate and protect universities and student-athletes from the challenges surrounding NCAA Name, Image & Likeness (NIL); and 3rd place Modularity Space, a company that has designed a number of innovations offering Space as a Service through modular satellite bus platforms.
“It’s always great to see our community come together to support and celebrate our local entrepreneurs . Each of these startups have tremendous growth potential, and we are excited to see how they use the Venture Plan Competition as a springboard for continued success,” said Dr. Pete McAlindon, Executive Director of the Center for Advanced Entrepreneurship at the Crummer Graduate School of Business.
About the Finalists:
Mindstamp: Mindstamp is an interactive video solution where you can create dynamic, personalized, interactive video experiences in seconds. Through Mindstamp, users can add buttons, questions, hotspots, video branching and more. The platform also allows users to gain unique insights to see how each video is performing and allows for data integration into other digital platforms.
Athliance: Athliance is a solution designed to educate and protect universities and student-athletes from the challenges surrounding NCAA Name, Image & Likeness (NIL). For the first time, the NCAA is enacting legislation that will allow student-athletes to receive compensation for NIL. Within this platform, the NCAA has established rules and regulations detailing what student-athletes can and cannot do. Athliance exists to manage these opportunities and help educate student-athletes on the challenges along the way.
Modularity Space: Modularity Space has developed a number of innovations offering Space as a Service through modular satellite bus platforms designed to accommodate payloads and mission needs. They believe in simplifying the space industry through standardization and full mission service packages. Modularity Space handles the system engineering, mission planning, satellite bus development, and more.