March 29th to the 31st was the 7th Annual Techstars Startup Weekend at IgniteU NY and coming out on top was UAlbany student Bailey Ryan with his company Vewr. As said on their website “We are a team of University at Albany students building Vewr: creator centric video sharing that rewards its community.”
The goal of Vewr is to be a video sharing and streaming platform which provides creators with fair financial gains. Vewr is trying to embrace creativity in creators while providing them with a safe platform to share their content. Content creators also generate income through cryptocurrencies instead of conventional means. The subscription service is different when compared to YouTube, subscribers pay a monthly fee for ad free access to the creator's content and gain access extra content. Due to the winning the competition, Vewr is now able to allow creators to sell things on their website.
This idea resonated with the judges at the Troy Startup Weekend and Ryan’s pitch ended up winning the startup competition. Winning the competition got Vewr a spot in one episode of the IgniteU podcast, a spot in Focus Brands’ Deep Dive Accelerated Brand Workshop, a 6-month membership at Troy Innovation Garage, 90 days of mentoring through BE Your Start Accelerator and 4 Albany Empire Tickets. These winnings will allow Vewr to increase their exposure and hone their skills.