The History Project Launches, Raises $2 Million in Funding to Fuel Digital Storytelling Platform OAKLAND, CA--(Marketwired - Nov 4, 2015) - The History Project, a modern reinvention of the time capsule, announced today that it is launching with $2 million in funding led by The New York Times Company, with additional investment by Matter Ventures and Altpoint Ventures, as well as several angels. The History Project connects memories and artifacts scattered over digital, social, and physical worlds for users to create meaningful, collaborative, and interactive life narratives. The company will use the funding to grow its platform, attract additional partners and scale its History Concierge service.
Currently, social media sites capture the here and now, but they lack historical perspective and lose important memories to a fast-moving stream. Unlike other platforms, The History Project combines capturing significant memories and digitizing offline content and cloud storage into a set of mobile and online tools that lets users intelligently collect, curate and collaborate in building personal stories. No other tool on the market today combines multimedia storytelling with technology to provide a platform to collect and bring history to life.
"Every second, we are losing one of our greatest human resources: our history. Millions want to capture their life stories of someone they love, but the process feels too complex, tedious and overwhelming," says Niles Lichtenstein, CEO and co-founder of The History Project. "Our platform tackles this problem by serving as a living time capsule through which anyone can capture and tell stories through a multi-faceted approach with technology at the center."
"Niles and his team are addressing something universal: the desire to preserve and share personal histories," said William Bardeen, senior vice president, strategy and development, The New York Times Company. "By pairing multimedia storytelling tools and technologies like cloud storage, The History Project is providing people with a simple way to create rich records of their lives and those of their loved ones. This investment is attractive to us because it combines strong entrepreneurial leadership with a compelling market opportunity that is consistent with the mission of The New York Times Company."
Founded by a team of entrepreneurs, including CEO Niles Lichtenstein, who developed the idea after rediscovering his late father's record collection, and Ben Yee, Head of Design, who wanted to chronicle becoming a father for the first time, The History Project empowers users to take control of their digital and physical assets and build them into tangible, shareable stories.
The platform has earned some notable early adopters, including musician Jewel, who's using it as an authentic way to share her life as a multi-media companion to her autobiography, Never Broken; the HBO film "The Diplomat," which chronicles the life of Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, whose personal history project offers never-before-seen articles, family photos and memories of the man responsible for brokering the Dayton Peace Accords that ended the war in Bosnia; and The Dallas Morning News, which is using the platform to showcase its 130th Anniversary.
"It is rare to see a media start-up deliver an experience that so deeply moves its users in the way that I have seen The History Project move people," said Corey Ford, Managing Partner of Matter Ventures, a start-up accelerator that supports entrepreneurs building the future of meaningful media. "When Niles unveiled a sneak peek of The History Project at our Demo Day, people were moved to tears thinking about how badly they wanted to preserve the history of their loved ones. This team has nailed a deep, unmet need and built a scalable start-up that truly helps people produce meaningful media."
For those wanting personalized support, the History Concierge service is offered at an additional price. The History Concierge is a talented storyteller who works directly with users to build their project or a project for someone they love.
To learn more about The History Project and to start collecting, collaborating and building your own meaningful life narrative, visit
http://www.thehistoryproject.com/.
About The History Project
The History Project is the first-of-its-kind modern time capsule that empowers individuals and groups to connect artifacts and memories across media to build powerful experiential stories that transcend generations. It's where life stories are told better and the moments that matter are preserved into a meaningful narrative. Launched in 2015, The History Project is funded by The New York Times Company, Matter Ventures, Altpoint Ventures and angel investors. The History Project is proud to partner with The Dallas Morning News, the HBO film "The Diplomat" about Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, who was responsible for brokering the Dayton Peace Accords that ended the war in Bosnia, and musician Jewel. For more information please visit
http://www.thehistoryproject.com/.
