Newsflare, a platform that aims to connect news outlets with those who take "amateur news videos" has announced that it is to receive investment.
Newsflare offers an iPhone app for recording and submitting video, and acts as an agency, paying members of the public and freelance journalists who contribute "newsworthy videos".
The platform, which launched in April and is in beta, "specialises in engaging the public to cover news that is too breaking, too remote or too local to be covered by mainstream news organisations", Newsflare told Journalism.co.uk by email.
In May Northcliffe Digital announced that it had signed a deal with Newsflare, enabling the publisher to use video that has been uploaded by users of the app and to request footage from the Newsflare community, setting the amount it is willing to pay for an assignment.
Yesterday Newsflare announced that it has secured its first external investment from "a collective of investors led by MediaTel managing director Derek Jones have taken a significant minority stake in Newsflare Ltd for an undisclosed sum".
In a release Jones said: “This is an exciting business to be involved in. Hardly a day goes by without reference to the growth of video across news sites, and the added value this brings; and to the increased role that quality, verifiable, user-generated content has to play in journalism.
"But at the same time many publishers are struggling with resource constraints as they aim to build a strong and profitable digital presence.
“In this dynamic but challenging environment Newsflare is ideally positioned to provide a truly valuable service to UK and international publishers and broadcasters.”
Managing director of Newsflare Jon Cornwell added: "The Newsflare team are delighted to have closed this round of investment which allows us to rapidly grow our team and to drive service improvements for our customers seeking newsworthy video."
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