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El Segundo-based MediaHound has just landed a $4.5 million Series A investment from undisclosed investors. The company created a content discovery app which helps users find and consume TV shows, movies, books, video games and songs across platforms.
MediaHound tries to distinguish itself from other content discovery apps by also providing recommendations based on social data from friends. The app has an entertainment database called ‘The Entertainment Graph’ that identifies personal tastes of users and makes recommendations based on interests of similar users. Users can also share content with each other.
“MediaHound is committed to bridging the gap between consumers and the content they love,” said CEO Addison McCaleb in a statement, “We’re looking beyond simple search-for-purchase and focusing on how authentic, social discovery will impact the way modern fans interact with, discover, curate, and share content today, and in the years to come.”
As the quantity of content continues to grow, MediaHound’s ability to help users find new content, especially content matched to their tastes, may increasingly become valuable. That need is only being accelerated by the movement of more and more content online. Just last week, two television channels announced standalone paid content websites: HBO Go and CBS All Access. As more and more content providers untie themselves from cable packages, viewers will need help finding content across dispersed sources.
A content discovery engine could also be a valuable advertising platform for content creators. Paid search results and native advertising could help content producers get the word out to the right audience.
MediaHound came out of USC’s Viterbi Startup Garage accelerator. That startup garage was created by USC, Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers and United Talent Agency. Prior to its $4.5 million Series A fund, the startup had received a $500,000 seed investment. This latest funding will go toward hiring, additional app development and enhancement of core technology, and finding new customers.
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