By Staff Writer
Tuluntulu – a mobile streaming platform app that enables its users to watch TV anywhere and anytime – today announced the company has been selected by the Unilever Foundry 50 as one of the top 50 start-ups in the world.
The first, and only one from Africa.
The “official” event takes place at the Cannes Lions in France next week
The inaugural Unilever Foundry 50 is an initiative to find the world’s top 50 marketing technology startups that are innovating to help brands better connect, engage and relate with people.
Uniliver has vetted 3,000 start-ups in marketing, research and data science in its first year.
The Foundry isn’t just a contest, nor is it an incubator or accelerator, though it works with some, such as Collider in the U.K. Nor is it a venture-capital fund, though Unilever has one of those too. It’s really more of a conduit linking Unilever brands with start-ups, and now through Foundry50, also making the fruits of its efforts available to the broader marketing world.
“Startups are pioneering the future of marketing effectively and sustainably”, said Head of Unilever Foundry, Jeremy Basset. “As the world’s second largest advertiser, we’re in a position to lead the way and supercharge the transformation of the marketing industry, making it more efficient, which will benefit consumers, brands and entrepreneurs alike. As a fellow leader in fostering innovation in the creative space, Lions Innovation is the ideal partner and together we’re pleased to be raising the profile of fifty of the world’s leading marketing technology startups to industry leaders.”
The Foundry may just have the world’s most exhaustive database of marketing-tech startups, at least outside the email archives of ad-tech reporters.
To be chosen for the Global Top 50, the startups need to have met the following criteria:
- Be innovative and truly disruptive, clearly differentiated from competitors already in the market
- Be relevant and interesting to the Brand & Marketing industry
- Incorporation within the last 5 years
- Raised less than $10 million in equity funding.
Tuluntulu is a mobile content platform targeting audiences in Africa and globally with African
focused content. The app can be downloaded for free from the Google Play and iOS App stores.
For the end user usage is free; free to watch “TV” and Radio (no subscriptions), 100% free on Wi-Fi, with data costs only if connected via a mobile network (low data setting consumes +-50MB / hr.).
The “FREE” business model is designed to maximize audience reach and engagement.
The platform currently has 15 x 24/7 streaming “TV” channels; News (Al Jazeera, ANN7, Deutsche Welle, Voice of America), Education (Mindset, Spark4U), Documentaries (Afridocs), Movies (Nolly4U), Sport (Africa Sport), Fashion (Fleur), Lifestyle (Africa4U, PlanetTV), Comedy (Good4U), music (GUAP, Mafrik), and Religion (eLev8). Tuluntulu launched radio streaming recently with 11 stations (702, 94.7, Cape Talk, Kfm, Ofm, RiseFM, VumaFM, VoW, VoA, eBizRadio) already on the app.
Since marketing commenced in mid 2014:
- The Tuluntulu app has now been downloaded over 150,000 times in 154 countries. The most popular being South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Algeria.
- The cumulative usage numbers of the App since launch are as follows:
- Over 4,2 millionscreen views
- Over 810,000sessions
- Over 150,000 active users
- Over 81,7% returning users
- Four new TV channels will be launched on the platform within the next two weeks.
- Tuluntulu is a finalist in the MTN App of the Year competition
The app displays the channels’ Twitter feed thereby providing live user / channel interaction (second screen).
The user can personalise the app by selecting “Favourite” channels, and users can choose high or low profiles (data consumption / quality changes) in order to save data costs or increase picture quality when watching the TV channels.
Users can register directly or via Facebook, which will provide “push” marketing options in order to drive user engagement. Items can be shared via social media.
Tuluntulu is also a platform for content owners wishing to extend the reach of existing video programming or complete “TV” channels into the mobile space in Africa. Content owners can secure their own dedicated 24/7 channels on the platform.
Tuluntulu can assist with monetizing these channels via the sale of advertising or content slots.
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