Grabyo is delighted to announce the official launch of its new US office headed up by leading sports and entertainment executive Mike Kelley.

With the proliferation of video on social platforms now accelerating globally, we are delighted to be expanding into North America with the opening of our US office in New York and excited to welcome Mike Kelley as President of the Americas.

Mike is the former Head of Business Development at OTT company NeuLion, and previously of Yahoo Sports, will be looking to capitalize on the growing demand for cloud video technology among TV rights owners, sports leagues and media companies.

“The rapid rise of social video and live streaming has dramatically changed the media landscape. Content companies now face considerable competition for attention and must dramatically increase their video output in order to stay relevant,” comments Mike Kelley, President of the Americas at Grabyo. “This is driving a real need for lightweight video technology and Grabyo is emerging as the leader – providing a single, effective platform to rapidly edit, distribute, and monetize video. Its deep integrations across all major social platforms also provide a distinct advantage to any content owner.”

Grabyo will be hosting an official launch party in association with Leaders in Sport and the Sport Business Summit held at the Hilton Hotel, Times Square. To join us for an evening of drinks and networking, please contact aaron@grabyo.com.

This is an important step forward for Grabyo, as the leading platform for social video production, editing and distribution. Our presence in the US will help further our already strong partnerships with key media and technology companies including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Periscope and Snapchat and we are already working with a number of US rights owners including BeIN Sports and The Rugby Channel.

“We’ve been impressed with the speed and usability of Grabyo’s video platform and have had considerable success with instant highlights on social. Following our campaign with streaming service go90, we’re also excited by the opportunity to monetize instant highlights and live streams,” comments Carlos Chaves, Digital Media Director at BeIN Sports.

“Grabyo massively simplifies the production of video on multiple social platforms and we’re excited to partner with them,” said David Sternberg, CEO of Rugby International Marketing (owner of The Rugby Channel). “We’re ramping up activity across several social platforms to build USA Rugby’s fan base, monetize our media distribution and drive traffic to our OTT offering.”

Mike previously led business development and strategy for renowned OTT platform company NeuLion – with clients such as NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS, SKY NZ, UFC, Univision. He also led business development for leading interactive TV provider Ensequence and served as VP of Marketing for Yahoo!’s Media & Entertainment division, having led its partnership with FIFA for the 2002/2006 World Cups.

“We’ve worked with a number of the major US rights owners over the last 18 months and expect demand to accelerate this year amid further expansion and commercialisation of video on social,” comments Gareth Capon, CEO at Grabyo. “With 25 years of experience working at the intersection of brands, content and technology, Mike brings exceptional knowledge and expertise to our business.”

To hear more about our work in either the US or globally, please contact hello@grabyo.com