Shuttersong, the first app to embed music and sound into a playable JPEG image, has secured an additional £300,000 investment as it looks to build on the commercial opportunities it can bring to UK brands.
The latest investment, made by former Accenture partner Gil Anderson, means total seed funding now stands at more than £1.3 million. Some 30,000 users – from teenagers sharing talking ‘selfies’ on Facebook to parents sending audio images of their loved ones to tech-savvy grandparents – have downloaded the app, and that number looks set to keep rising as photo-sharing continues to redefine social media habits.
However, the new funds will largely go towards the commercial expansion of the platform for use by brands and digital marketing agencies looking to implement Shuttersong’s patent-pending technology for social marketing campaigns, fan engagement and user-generated content. The company is already in talks with several companies including a large greeting card business, a major record label and a well-known online fashion retailer.
Gil Anderson said: “Shuttersong fills a void in the current marketer’s toolbox.
“Image and video-sharing have sky-rocketed in the last year. Shuttersong’s streamlined technology gives marketers a totally novel way to create, promote and share their content. Its potential is tremendous and I am thrilled to be joining the team at this exciting time in the company.”
The company’s chief executive and co-founder, William Agush, said: “The compelling thing about Shuttersong is that it gives you all the benefit of video with all the convenience photography.
“Every mobile user already knows how to take a picture and every company already has a photographic library, so the consumer and commercial possibilities really are huge.
“This investment is an important step forward for Shuttersong, as we continue to build out the app’s capabilities and evolve our commercial partnerships,” added Agush. “We’re really excited about how brands are beginning to engage with our technology to enhance their content offerings and bolster e-commerce.”
- Shuttersong was founded by 58-year-old marketing veteran William Agush who was inspired by a ‘talking photo frame’ that played the toddler voice of his now-adult son. It is the first free mobile app that combines any digital image with up to 15 seconds of sound, forming a single, shareable anywhere, high-quality JPEG file.
