This week, we’re looking at the latest app to come from Sofia Fenichell, the founder of RockPack. It’s called Wonder PL and it’s an ad-free video streaming platform for quality content, looking to compete with Vimeo and YouTube. Having already attracted over $1.4m worth of investing from big names like Universal Music Group, Qualcomm Ventures and Alex Creighton (Co-Founder and President of Vice Media), this free to download iOS app looks like it could be a big player in the video content market over the next few years.
Its main selling point is that it cuts through the clutter of traditional video platforms (like Vimeo and YouTube) to only show you high quality video content, rather than poorly made, dimly lit productions. On first opening the app you’re given a selection of content producers you might want to follow, select from a list and follow onto the home screen to start flicking through videos. If there’s nothing you want to watch in your home screen, the first button in the tabbed menu lets you select your Mood. This smart feature puts the question to you of what you want to gain from a video, the statement “I want to” stays static which you choose from options ranging from “Feel Inspired” to “Be a Chef” to “Look Great”.
The tabbed menu also lets you select from collections, view your profile or look back at your activity. Each video also gives you the option to Love, Share, Comment or add to your own personal collection.
The app is free to download and doesn’t rely on adverts to make money, which raises the question of how does it plan on making money? From looking quickly through the app; it seems to have found quite a nice, unique way of monetising. It combines an e-commerce platform with the video streaming service. The best example is given in the app store listing
– “I watched an interview with Malcolm Gladwell and was able to buy his book without leaving the app.”
Many of the videos give you an option to make a purchase underneath them, which I can only assume Wonder PL will take a percentage of. This is a really innovative way of making money from video content, and hopefully something which will work for Wonder PL.