Vimeo, the popular video hosting platform, has announced their acquisition of the video production service Magisto.Magisto, an Israeli startup with over 100 million users, markets their service as a "smart video editor transforms the video and photos you shoot into polished short movies with emotion and excitement at the core of every story." The platform utilizes AI to help users create engaging and impactful video marketing pieces without the requirement of owning expensive editing equipment or having a background in video production.
"Social media has sparked an insatiable demand for video – audiences today expect high-quality video content from every business, regardless of size or budget. But we've found that most small businesses don't have the tools, resources or expertise to meet this increased demand," explains Anjali Sud, CEO of Vimeo. "Magisto's proprietary technology enables cutting edge mobile apps and AI-powered editing tools which, combined with Vimeo's scale and unmatched creator community, will empower more people to tell compelling stories through video."
Following the acquisition, the Vimeo and Magisto teams will work to develop brand new short-form video creation tools for the Vimeo platform, essentially making Vimeo into a one-stop-shop for users looking to quickly create and host their own short videos.
As a Vimeo user, I view this as a positive move to develop the platform beyond simple video hosting. While the capabilities of Magisto don't seem to be anything earth shattering (look at some of the examples on their site), they do appear to offer a solid solution that integrates stock imagery, video, and music, into a single production tool that will save a lot of users time and money.
WHO acquired WHO? Yeah...