LOS ANGELES, Feb. 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, StarNews Mobile, a LA-based network of mobile video channels that allows celebrities and brands to monetize their fan bases in Africa, announced it has joined the fourth Snap Inc.’s Yellow Accelerator, a program launched in May 2018 for entrepreneurs working at the intersection of content creation and technology. Yellow Accelerator will invest $150K in StarNews Mobile and provide a 14-week curriculum to facilitate strategy, growth, fundraising and mentorship. The 14-week program completes on Friday, May 7 with a virtual demo day scheduled for Thursday, April 29.
StarNews Mobile was selected among eight other companies to join the program. StarNews Mobile creates a pathway for creation and distribution, as well as access to quality streaming content for end users. StarNews Mobile will leverage Snap Inc.’s best practices and provide insight into the mobile streaming ecosystem in Africa.
StarNews Mobile recognizes the importance of providing diverse monetization opportunities for African content creators while delivering quality, streaming video to under-serviced mobile users. While the African mobile market is now one of the fastest growing in the world, a large majority of African consumers do not have access to relevant video content due to costly mobile data plans and a lack in services tailored to local markets. At the same time, content creators struggle to earn revenue due to current streaming platform limitations.
“We are thrilled to be selected to join Yellow’s exclusive accelerator,” said Guy Kamgaing, Founder and CEO of StarNews Mobile. “StarNews Mobile was developed with African content creators and fans in mind and our company is growing exponentially as we continue to pen deals with the largest telecom operators, artists and entertainment networks in the U.S. and Africa.”
Recognizing that African mobile users have limited streaming and entertainment opportunities due to bandwidth and expensive data, Kamgaing, a Cameroon native with 20 years of African mobile telecom and media experience, realized the market need to create StarNews Mobile in order to provide underserved consumers with access to entertainment and create a new source of income for content creators.
StarNews Mobile uses proprietary infrastructure to facilitate a two-sided marketplace helping content creators monetize. The network helps people enjoy streaming content on their modest, mobile phones at a low price. Additionally, StarNews Mobile inspires artists to create and the opportunity to express themselves in unique ways to the underrepresented.
Due to its strong distribution and marketing partnerships with pan-African mobile operators such as MTN, Orange and Moov, relationship with local African artists, and seamless monetization offering through micro-payments, StarNews Mobile has built a service that excels in its simplicity, affordability and content appeal.
StarNews Mobile successfully closed a $1.8M pre-A round with Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P), the most prestigious pan-African fund and Santa Monica based accelerator Expert Dojo. StarNews Mobile partnered with Sony Entertainment, Universal Music and U.S. entertainment network Black and Sexy TV. StarNews Mobile’s community development initiatives such as the Youth Initiative Incubator help provide jobs and income generation opportunities at the local level (city and country).
Today, StarNews Mobile is available in the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Congo and South Africa and will be launching in Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and other countries.
To learn more about StarNews Mobile, please visit: www.starnewsmobile.com. For investor inquiries, please contact: info@starnewsmobile.com.
Media Contact:
Nadia Haidar
Red Rooster PR
nadia@redroosterpr.com
+1-949-734-0688