Microsoft backs NZ startup Wipster

Microsoft backs NZ startup Wipster

WELLINGTON, NZ July 2, 2014 - Microsoft has today released a video about Wellington-based tech startup Wipster, a result of the video collaboration platform being selected for Microsoft’s prestigious startup mentorship program BizSpark. The video sees Wipster CEO Rollo Wenlock explain the origins of the company, and was filmed at Microsoft’s San Francisco office and in Wellington earlier this year.

Wipster radically simplifies the video production process, by allowing multiple people (be they clients or colleagues) to review and approve a video, whether from across the room, or around the world. It was launched in March this year at the South By South West (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas, and already has more than 6,500 users in 95 countries.

Wipster was chosen from more than 50,000 startups around the world to join Microsoft’s BizSpark program, which gives startups access to three years of free resources, software, support and visibility.

Wenlock says this support is invaluable: “At an early stage in your business, when no one knows you, it’s a godsend to be able to piggyback on the shoulder of a giant, and Microsoft has been our giant.”

Microsoft’s Thiago Almeida, who leads BizSpark in New Zealand, is excited about Wipster and its future. “We are very impressed with Wipster’s success and their pace of innovation,” he says. “This is a very positive partnership and we are proud to have Wipster in our BizSpark programme.”

Wenlock came up with the idea for Wipster while running a video production company and finding it hard to efficiently collaborate with teammates and clients during the creative process.

“The process was endlessly frustrating, and led to countless wasted hours. Then one day inspiration struck, and now we have a solid platform that is transforming the workflow of the thousands of video makers who use it,” he says. “Wipster lets video creatives focus on the creative process – we believe in video makers, and it’s our mission to make sure there’s as little between them and getting things done as possible.”

Wipster users upload a video into the cloud, then share it with collaborators and clients, who can point to specific parts of the video and type their feedback directly on the frame.

The platform is aimed at in-house video production teams, and Wipster users, which include Xero, Evernote, Omni Group and Invision, have noticed an efficiency increase of more than 50 percent in their video production and review processes. The Wipster team is currently working on a full enterprise solution, and invites more businesses to try out Wipster to help shape the future of video.

Wipster’s headquarters are in Wellington, NZ, but with more than half of its clients based in the US, it also has offices in San Francisco.

Learn more at wipster.io.

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