The co-founder of Twitter has joined the board of Chroma, a business devoted to developing a brand-new category of audiovisual entertainment only for mobile devices.
The company announced today that Biz Stone, the co-founder of Twitter and Medium and previously an angel investor in his Chroma along with the founder of Pinterest, has invested in areas such as design, product development, filmmaking, and scaling. To leverage his expertise, he announced that he will join the company’s board of directors. Carrying the brand.
A former Google employee, Stone worked on the Blogger team before co-founding Twitter in 2006 after its acquisition.
He stayed on Twitter for a number of years while the firm expanded and gained support from millions of people worldwide. In 2011, when Twitter’s active user count reached 100 million, the entrepreneur left the company to pursue a new venture at Obvious Corporation.
The startup’s incubator and investment company, Obvious Corporation, is where Twitter co-founder Evan Williams and former Twitter manager Jason Goldman also worked. The company’s most notable creation is the blogging platform Medium. But in 2013, Stone and other participants changed their attention to distinct startups. For Stone, this led to the development of his Q&A app and search engine, Jelly, which he later sold to Pinterest.
In 2017, Stone publicly announced that he would be returning to Twitter to lead strategic vision, brand, and culture, where he will remain until 2021.
Over the years, she has endorsed many companies including Square, Pinterest, Slack, Nest, Intercom, and Beyond Meat, and currently chairs their nomination and governance committees.
Stone said he was first drawn to Swedish audiovisual company Chroma when he was introduced to Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp by his CEO and founder, Andreas Pihlström. Pihlström previously worked at Pinterest, Beats Music, and VSCO as a Creative Director, Design Advisor, Designer, and Prototizer.
The two hit it off and started calling each other monthly after Stone’s angel investment.
“It’s really important to find people you like to work with and spend time with and exchange ideas with,” Stone said.
The Chroma team had many ideas but finally arrived at the intersection of audio-visual techniques with music and sound.
As Stone explains, the idea was to change the nature of the music and sounds, making them a more interactive and immersive experience.In actuality, people can explore and interact with sound-driven digital spaces created by tactile, dynamic visuals for a variety of reasons.
A debut to test this concept came out last year through a partnership with music artist Arca to create his iOS app called Lux Aeterna. According to the company, the app offers an audiovisual experience that explores the music of Venezuelan producers, DJs, singers, and songwriters in a “meditative digital space.” Users fly through virtual worlds and interact with music and sound as part of their journey.
However, that does not fully demonstrate the potential of this technology. There are many use cases, revealing other ways in which users can manipulate audio and sound, such as games, meditation, relaxation, and composition. Such. The company plans to launch its products on its mobile device first, but Stone said the tech could become even more interesting if Apple releases its own VR/AR headset. thinking about.
“I think when it becomes more ubiquitous, it will be a great fit for gear in the Metaverse…but you can also see it on Apple TV. Anywhere there is great sound and great image,” he added. “Mobile [first] is easy because everyone has it.”
Founded in 2021, Chroma last year acquired venture capital firms Singular and Adjacent, Berlin-based angel syndicate SpotiAngels, and other private investors, including Evan Sharp and Ben Silbermann, co-founders of Stone and Pinterest. raised $5.4 million in seed funding. Chroma previously raised €1.6 million in pre-seed funding.
As a board member, Stone expects to meet with startups several times a month, in addition to regular board meetings. He usually thinks of himself as an angel investment adviser, he said. That means we’re open to phone calls from founders, but we won’t call them if they don’t want to.
Chroma did. “They are full of ideas [at Chroma]. It’s a small team and you don’t have to do a lot to get something done, so the challenge was narrowing it down,” Stone said. rice field. Right now, the focus is on adding a sensory experience to the sound.
“The big picture is kind of like this ‘Soundplay’ idea… it’s interactive. It’s a 3D rich variation of nature’s music, but it’s visual and . ..you can do something with it,” Stone hinted.
“Biz brings a wealth of experience in technology and design to our table. Together we pave the way for the future of sound.
Combining excellence in the digital space with forward-thinking to shift the musical paradigm,” Pihlström said in a statement. It’s not just board positions that Stone is working on.
The entrepreneur says he’s been eating “noodles” with a small group of people doing different things for themselves. So far, the project has been self-funded and hasn’t officially launched yet, so he’s keeping the details a secret, but Stone says he’s not afraid of the burgeoning field of AI, particularly He has stated that he is particularly interested in using his AI as a tool.
“The big picture is kind of like this ‘Soundplay’ idea… it’s interactive. It’s a 3D rich variation of nature’s music, but it’s visual and . ..you can do something with it,” Stone hinted.
“Biz brings to our team a depth of expertise in technology and design. Together, we create the foundation for sound’s future.
Combining excellence in the digital space with forward-thinking to shift the musical paradigm,” Pihlström said in a statement. It’s not just board positions that Stone is working on. The entrepreneur says he’s been eating “noodles” with a small group of people doing different things for themselves. So far, the project has been self-funded and hasn’t officially launched yet, so he’s keeping the details a secret, but Stone says he’s not afraid of the burgeoning field of AI, particularly He has stated that he is particularly interested in using his AI as a tool.
