Jinni Raises $1M for Video Discovery

Jinni, a video search and discovery service, has raised $1 million from Israeli investment collective Startup Factory, according to Globes Online.

Jinni doesn’t have a live site, but it appears to be looking to license its personalized recommendation technology to TV and online video operators, similar to the strategy of another Israeli video discovery startup we’ve covered, Taboola. Recommendations are definitely an interesting and somewhat unexplored aspect of online video, but we haven’t seen significant business development to back up this licensing model. You might be better off competing for the Netflix prize.

As Jinni describes itself,

Jinni’s innovative content discovery solution for professional and semi-professional videos organizes metadata across multidimensional parameters of plot and experience, reflecting how people really think about entertainment. Our video data brain gives precise, succinct, and highly personalized search-and-recommendation results.

According to LinkedIn, Jinni was founded by Yosi Glick, formerly of Orca Interactive and Oracle, and Izik Ben-Zaken, formerly at billing software provider MIND CTI.