November 11, 2008
Reality Digital Doubles in Size and Expands International Presence to Meet Industry Demand
Exponential Growth of the Web Video and Social Media Market Drives Company
to Grow Sales, Marketing, Distribution, and Product Development,
as well as Open a U.K. Office
San Francisco - October 28, 2008 - Reality Digital, Inc., a leading enterprise-scale social media platform provider, today announced that it has doubled its staff across New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, as well as expanded its European presence with the opening of a U.K. office. Earlier this year, Reality Digital secured $6.3 million in its Series B round of venture funding from OpenView Venture Partners. The new funds have been used to capitalize on the explosive demand for viewing video over the Internet and the increasing popularity of consumer adoption of User Generated Content (UGC) by expanding Reality Digital's reach and resources to better support customer needs.
The growth of online video and social media tools is staggering. The total value of the UGC market - comprising social networking, dating and personal content delivery services - will rise from nearly $1.1 billion in 2007 to more than $7.3 billion in 2013, with social networking overhauling dating to become the largest revenue generating segment by 2009, according to a new report from Juniper Research. Pew Internet & American Life Project found in January 2008 that 48 percent of Internet users have been to video-sharing sites such as YouTube and the daily traffic to such sites on a typical day has doubled in the past year. Consumer use of online video and the growing popularity of UGC are driving businesses to adopt social media tools to reach these customers and ultimately optimize their brand's identity.
“Several of the world's top broadcasters already trust Reality Digital to develop and manage their social media communities,” said Cynthia Francis, founder and CEO of Reality Digital. “Our reputation of understanding broadcast and digital media, coupled with the online video and social media boom, has resulted in large market opportunities for us. Given this, we have expanded our sales, marketing, distribution, and product development teams across the U.S. and Europe. We already work closely with major U.K. broadcasters and leading brands and publishers, therefore it made sense for us to strengthen our presence overseas.”
In order to better serve existing and future customer needs in Europe, Reality Digital not only opened a U.K. office, but also hired Robert Edward Proctor, director of EMEA, to develop an on-ground presence for Reality Digital in London, lead European sales efforts, and establish Reality Digital through resellers in other European countries. Proctor will also drive expansion of Reality Digital's U.K. presence, including a data center and engineering team over the next 6-12 months.
Proctor brings 20 years of executive and entrepreneurial experience in new media and e-commerce development on both Web and mobile platforms. Before Reality Digital, Proctor held various senior-level positions at up-and-coming new media companies, including experience as an owner, CEO and founder. He most recently worked as a senior vice president, EMEA, at Adify Corp., where he effectively launched Adify into the global marketplace by building operations and forecasting business opportunities. Before Adify, Proctor worked as a project director at Onecall Technologies, where he created the industry's first ‘off desk’ mobile content delivery platform and payment mechanism. Prior to that, he was owner of Europe Media Espania, where he provided new media marketing services and strategic digital consulting services.
“Reality Digital is at the right place at the right time,” said Proctor. “Businesses are at a crossroads right now, torn between maintaining traditional means of building brand recognition, or moving toward an interactive means of communicating with customers through social media tools. Companies are starting to understand that a key component to establishing staying power for a brand and a loyal customer base is to create a community where everyone can share their thoughts openly and interact. I am very excited to work with Reality Digital's talented engineering and management team, who all share the same passion I do for helping customers realize their visions.”
About Reality Digital
Reality Digital, Inc. is a leading, enterprise-scale social media platform provider. Based on a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, Reality Digital enables businesses to build, manage and monetize brand-safe, rich media communities. Comprised of an executive team with deep expertise in broadcast, digital media, and professional services, Reality Digital employs a customer-centric approach to service delivery that assists customers in realizing their social media vision. The Reality Digital Opus™ platform utilizes a service-oriented architecture (SOA) that enables companies to quickly and reliably deploy their highly customized online communities. Leading brands in media, publishing, sports, and entertainment depend on Reality Digital to minimize business risks, build stronger brands, and reduce time to market. Founded in 2005, Reality Digital has offices in San Francisco and London. For more information, visit www.realitydigital.com.
Reality Digital Opus is a trademark of Reality Digital. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.
