COMPANY

Name: WeBuyGold

Legal Name: WeBuyGold, Inc.

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Founded: April 2017

Founder(s): Daniel Altmann, Eric Posen

Website: www.webuygold.tv

Social Media Following: 8,368 Likes on Facebook, 4,426 Followers on Twitter, 1,58,000+ Followers on Instagram, 2,900+ subscribers on YouTube

INDUSTRY – Ad spend on Digital Video Streaming

Size: $30Bn in 2017 (Source: FTI Consulting)

Projections: $70Bn by 2021

Introduction

It may sound like a portal to trade in your jewellery, but WeBuyGold is actually a mobile media brand that uses musical and cultural trends as inspiration for creating animated content. This social-video network creates original, cartoon content, featuring voices of emerging and favorite stars. Primarily focused on Instagram, these short-form videos leverage the social media platform’s Feed, Stories and Live features to engagingly tell a story.

The Product

By collaborating with popular and emerging talent in the sports and music industry, such as 21 Savage, 2 Chainz and Von Miller, WeBuyGold is becoming a leader in the online programming space. Some of the media brand’s latest content series include Gully Guy, Turbo and Reverse Brothers Pawn. It also helps brands promote their products and services through specially constructed video series. Game Worn, Nike Chicago’s collaboration with the artist, JuWorkingOnProjects, is one such example.

Origin and Founding Team

Daniel Altmann and Eric Posen (both Forbes 30 Under 30 alumni) started off Naritiv, a media business that connects brands to Snapchat influencers, in September 2014. Two years into this journey, they began to notice a trend of digital content creators directly getting in touch with fans to monetize their communities. This was also a time of cultural phenomenon and personalities were going viral. So, the duo decided to do something disruptive by creating an altogether new social entertainment category – animated shows featuring hip hop stars. Thus, as a spin-off of Naritiv, WeBuyGold was born in April 2017 with a focus on Instagram instead of Snapchat.

From the very inception of the company, music mogul and social media king DJ Khaled donned the hat of creative director at WeBuyGold. Not only does he play a pivotal role in the creation of new content but is also involved in the identification and selection of musical talent. This Instagram influencer (5M+ followers), and story-telling genius has also featured in a few WeBuyGold web series such as The Bless Up and Sole Protectors.

Performance and Trends

As part of the Naritiv legacy, WeBuyGold had access to funds ($4.3Mn +) from the likes of Third Wave Digital, Disney, Techstars, and Greylock Partners.

Just two weeks post their first series on Instagram, “The Year 2100”, WeBuyGold’s followers grew 700%+. Also, the show received 9 million views and one million engagements.

Today, the startup has 158K+ followers on Instagram.