Five from Finland
Video services
These five companies have each found their focus on screen.
Covering everything from random content to contracts, interaction, advertising and immersive travel, these Finnish companies have made videos their business.
NEVERTHINK
While content may be king, the option not to choose it yourself has proven to be just as popular. For the founders of Neverthink, the simple idea of a background companion has turned into a global success.
“If you want to watch a specific video, you go to YouTube, and if you want to watch movies, you go to HBO or Netflix,” CEO Aviv Junno told us. “But if you just want instant hands-free entertainment while eating, doing exercise or just chilling, then you go to Neverthink.”
What do predators on the savannah and videos in online sales have in common? This company figured it out and is now measurably boosting webshops with its simple tool. Videoly’s idea is to use pre-existing content to enable online shops to add videos without having to actually film them.
“Because a video stimulates various senses, it’s very resource-efficient for the brain,” co-founder Nora Huovila outlined.
“We’re not sure where the future will take us, but we already know it’ll be bright. We want to be the go-to video solution for everyone, globally,” she added.
SESSIO
This Finnish company hopes to transform how we contract renovation and construction works.
The Sessio app lets you record a local video or a video call where you describe the specifics of the works. The app captures the audio and video and lets you take still photos of and draw on the recording. Finally, you can merge the material into a video contract.
“We all carry portable devices that are always connected and have highly sophisticated tech,” CEO Tomas Westerholm observed. “This allows for entirely new kinds of services, and I’m sure there’s still massive untapped potential for new ideas.”
VIRTUAL TRAVELLER
This Finnish company set out to become the global number one 360-degree travel video hotspot showcasing a world of experiences.
“You can surprise people time and time again, because there’s always another angle,” CEO Donna Kivirauma explained in 2019.
Tellybean has made video chats more accessible and ‘as large as life’ by putting those nearest and dearest on TV screens. Originally developed with less technology-savvy people or late adopters, as the industry calls them, in mind, the Tellybean video call service launched on the Android TV platform in 2015, leading to co-operation with Sony and Philips and the launch of a TV app for Samsung and LG.
“Developing on new platforms is always tricky, but I am extremely proud of our team,” said CEO Cami Hongell, after closing a 510 000-euro funding round in 2017. “We are now making Tellybean calls on new TV platforms and on iOS devices.”
Originally published in May 2019