Marina del Rey Crowd-Source Video Company Receives $15 Million Investment

Tongal, a Marina del Rey-based company that connects advertisers with user-created videos, secured a $15 million investment on Monday.

The crowd-source video company was founded in 2008 with the belief that good ideas should be conceptualized and vetted by the public. Tongal allows writers, directors and animators to create videos for brands that need original content for advertising purposes.

The creative project begins with the “idea round” where companies select the best submission ideas for a particular marketing project. Then, the ideas move in the competition process and more technically-skilled filmmakers help bring the ideas to fruition.

A prize pool is distributed among the winners of a selected project. To date, Tongal users have earned more than $3 million, according to the company.

“Our brand customers are thrilled with the quality and in-market performance of videos being produced on Tongal, as well the unexpected and fresh ideas that emerge,” said James DeJulio, president of Tongal. “Tongal enables businesses to expand beyond the thinking within the four walls of their organizations, and provides the opportunity to unlock and access the world’s creativity — this is very powerful.”

The $15 million cash infusion provided by Insight Venture Partners will be used to accelerate the build-out of a global community of Tongal users.

“Tongal’s customers told us how the company’s robust community, coupled with Tongal’s delivery platform, offers brand marketers a unique opportunity to satisfy their need for high-quality, innovative, and inspiring content,” said Jeff Lieberman, managing director at Insight Venture Partners. “All this occurs at lower cost and with faster time to market – something truly differentiated among marketing solutions. We are excited to work with Rob, James, and the team as they scale Tongal.”

Tongal is headquartered at 4063 Glencoe Ave. in Marina del Rey.