5 news startups to watch from Collision tech conference

Hundreds of startups headed to the Collision technology conference in Las Vegas last week.

Among the ecommerce entrepreneurs and people hocking animated buddy icons (apparently that's a thing now), were several young companies innovating in tools and new technologies for journalists.

From livestreaming apps to social media monitoring tools, here are five of the standout media startups from the conference.

Yeplive

Another week, another livestreaming app. What makes Yeplive different is its map-based interface, which allows users to search for videos in a particular location.

The app's USP is its "discoverability", co-founder Vanessa Benolo told Journalism.co.uk

Unlike Periscope and Meerkat, Yeplive enables users to search for videos by geotags, text tags and titles and to also see which videos are trending, both locally and globally.

Users can also watch a replay of livestream videos after they have ended, a function which Periscope has but Meerkat does not.

The app is set to launch on Android in two weeks and on iOS a fortnight later, with a web application also in the works.


Screenshot from Yeplive

Transterra Media

Launched amid the Egyptian protests of 2013, Transterra Media (TTM) is a digital marketplace for freelance journalists, filmmakers and media.

It allows freelancers to upload and pitch stories, while media outlets can assign projects "to find new content from journalists in some of the hardest to reach places in the world," explained producer Joe Lukawski.

Journalists are vetted based on evidence from their portfolio and feedback from outlets. Transterra provides insurance and also handles all payments on a 70/30 split in favour of the freelancer, while journalists retain the copyright to any content they upload.  

The platform is mostly focused on photo essays and videos, working with international outlets including Al Jazeera English and the BBC.

Transterra's biggest product, however, is news from the Middle East, Ukraine and Nigeria – areas where Lukawski said the company has a strong network due to working relationships formed when TTM producers were working as journalists.

"We're a tech startup full of journalists," he said.

"We've got a lot of Middle East focus because we've had extremely rare access in Syria, Libya, Yemen, our network in the middle east is very strong and it's a very particular place to have such a network."


Screenshot from Transterra Media

Echosec

A location-based social media monitoring tool, Echosec claims to already work with security and defense sectors to provide intelligence on information being posted from particular regions around the world.

However, the platform can also be used by journalists to discover posts from areas where there is breaking news or other significant events.

"You can search over an area anywhere in the world and pull up social media from the likes of Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Panoramio and Picasa," said Ben Milsom, UK business development manager for Echosec.

The platform, which launched in May 2014, has also recently introduced integrations with the Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo, and VKontakte,  dubbed "the Russian Facebook". A subscription is required to access live data, from $30 (£19.67) a month.


Screenshot from app.echosec.net

Sessions

Sessions is a mobile news app which will enable users to follow and receive real-time updates about news stories, live events, and other topics.

The aim is to create a space for journalists and citizen reporters to post updates via photos, videos, audio and SMS, as well as creating a resource for eyewitness media.

Users can also invite other contributors to a 'session', "so it's a lot like live blogging in that respect," founder Diego Guadarrama told Journalism.co.uk.

Currently in pre-beta, the app is set for launch within two months.


Screenshot from Sessions

Streamr

Described by co-founder Chase Herschman as "Flipboard meets Tinder", Streamr is a personal newsreader aimed at a millennial audience.

The app will initially feature content from sources popular with younger age groups, including ESPN, BuzzFeed, Huffington Post and Perez Hilton, plus social feeds including Vine and Instagram.

Stories are arranged in stacks of cards which users navigate using a Tinder-like swipe motion. This is what Herschman believes sets Streamr apart from other newsreaders by allowing you to "go through your news and content very fast, unlike Flipboard and Feedly ".

The app, currently in alpha, is set to launch on web in two months with 15 feeds. This will be followed by apps for iOS and Android, with the goal being to build out to unlimited feeds.


Screenshots provided by Streamr

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