Cinemacraft raises $1.5M in funding, expands team in Tokyo and LA

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Tokyo-based media startup Cinemacraft has announced today that it has closed a $1.5 million round of funding from NTT Docomo Ventures, Turner Broadcasting’s Media Camp, and 500 Startups.

We have previously featured Cinemacraft’s primary offering Videogram, a clever thumbnailed display that gives users visual previews of the various parts of a video. Check out the Runner Runner trailer below for an example of how it works.

It feels good to reach market validation but work is not over yet. We’re just getting started

The new funds will be used to expand the team, adding three new engineers to the core team in Tokyo, which will continue to be Cinemacraft’s engineering center. Founder Sandeep Casi tells us that they are currently hiring developers (iOS, Android, HTML5, Java/JSP) and if anyone would like to apply they can do so here. Including Casi, the team is still a lean six people in total, with two additions in Los Angeles for business development and operations.

Readers may recall back in June when we mentioned that the startup had been admitted into Turner Broadcasting’s Media Camp. Founder Sandeep Casi notes how important that experience was for him:

[It] was awesome. We had traction from Hollywood going into Media Camp. We had a product that was market ready and what the Media Camp did was amplify our execution. Now it is about scaling. Getting the right hires in place is the next major priority. It feels good to reach market validation but work is not over yet. We’re just getting started.

So what lies ahead for Cinemacraft? Casi adds that they are already deploying their product in the US with some large entities like Fox, Turner, and Capitol Records. They will also be working with NTT group here in Japan.

This new round brings the startups total amount of funds raised to $2 million.