Background

Every business in 2019, whether they like it or not, is locked in a content arms race. To get noticed in an era where even celebrity pets command millions of fans, brands must put out wave after wave of quality photo, audio, and video. For the last 30 years, the bedrock of marketing material was paper goods. That is how Kinko’s built a multi-billion dollar business. But the world has changed—businesses need more content, faster than ever—and the content creation market is primed for a change along with it. 

The current process for creating content is expensive and out of date. Right now, most companies have two, equally unpleasant options to make media: take a hit on price and hire an expensive ad agency, or take a hit on quality and source cheap, awkward stock content. There is no middle option.

Company Specifics

soona is building fast-casual content studios that empower brands to create high-quality content at a faster rate and a lower cost. It provides a third choice to the huge number of companies out there who do not want to splurge on an agency, but still want agency-quality work. Pro photos start at $39 and pro videos start at $93.

soona’s retail studio facilities house multiple media bays set up for rapid content creation. Companies book a slot ahead of time, and need only bring their best product, people and ideas. soona takes care of the rest, providing A/V equipment, professional crew, green screens, and a model kitchen and lounge area. Their studios are able to provide content within 24 hours because of their groundbreaking compression and workflow software, Camera-to-Cloud or C2C. C2C allows customers to shop their content in real time with instant review of their media. This collaborative, high-efficiency approach means full projects turn around in less than 24 hours. 

soona already has locations in Denver and Minneapolis, which see high utilization rates and clients ranging from Target and Sherwin-Williams to podcasters and fashion brands. Soona’s pricing model is simple, $39-99 per photo or video. The company is launching soona Anytime on August 27, which makes the process even easier. Companies can send their products to soona and shop their content in real time,  so the brand never has to leave the office. 

Liz Giorgi and Hayley Anderson started soona after running a highly successful photo and video agency in Denver called Mighteor, which worked with clients like Facebook and U.S. Bank. They realized that demand for content was high, but there was not a way to make good work outside of agencies. So they set about making a Kinko’s for the digital marketing masses. Liz is a well respected entrepreneur in Colorado and we’ve watched her from afar before finally getting to work together through the Techstars Boulder 2019 accelerator.