TheTake, a technology start-up that allows consumers to identify and purchase products featured in movies, today announced that it has raised a $2 million Series Seed round led by Halic, LLC. Notable participants include Demarest Films, a financing and production company whose recent movies include A Most Wanted Man and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Archer Gray, a media production and venture investment company, and former NBC Entertainment Co-Chairman and current Electus Chairman Ben Silverman, among others.
The capital will enable TheTake to rapidly expand its database of movies, refine its shoppable video API and market the upcoming launch of its mobile application, due to hit the Apple App Store fall 2014.
'Eighteen months ago, I met two gifted engineers while at Columbia Business School. We gathered around the simple vision of being able to identify and buy James Bond's suit, watch and shoes the moment they appear on screen,' said Tyler Cooper, CEO and Founder. 'A few months later we decided to pursue the vision full time. Since then, we've debuted our website and won 'Crowd Favorite' at Jason Calacanis' LAUNCH Festival, built an elegant mobile app due to launch this year, and now we've raised $2 million from some incredibly savvy investors to carry us forward.'
TheTake's website combines a familiar Pinterest-like layout with proprietary shoppable video technology to give movie fans easy access to the products and locations from the films they love. Right now on TheTake's web application, users can browse by movie, actor, and even product category to shop the looks from their favorite titles. TheTake links users to its retail partners where the exact product can be purchased and also offers suggestions for comparable products at different price points.
TheTake's soon to launch mobile application, a 'Shazam for Movies', uses automatic content recognition (ACR) to identify a film within seconds, then display the specific scene of interest on a user's mobile device. From there, users can tap to identify and shop all of the products in the scene.
'In the last several years, second screen apps have grown in popularity but failed to address any meaningful problems for consumers,' said Jared Browarnik, CTO. 'TheTake is built around addressing a real need faced by its founders and millions of movie fans every year.'
TheTake currently has a database of 60 films. With additional resources made possible by the capital infusion, the company plans to begin adding new and classic films at a rate of 10 per week.
About TheTake: Founded in 2013 by Columbia Business and Engineering School students, TheTake enables users to identify products and locations seen on the silver screen. The mobile application, set to launch in the fall, uses automatic content recognition (ACR) to instantly sync with a film and display the products seen on screen at that moment. The website is a destination for browsing, shopping and discussing products and locations from movies. The company recently won 'Crowd Favorite' at LAUNCH Festival 2014. Visit TheTake on the web at http://www.thetake.com.
About CEO and Founder, Tyler Cooper: Prior to founding TheTake, Tyler Cooper, Chief Executive Officer, spent 7 years at MGM Studios where he ran the NYC-based cable sales office and managed partnerships with MTV, Bravo, Oxygen, History, and numerous other networks.