Part 2: Meet Three EPIC Startup Teams RenderChain, Creatr, and Edwise
3 min read
Innovation in Graphics and Film Using Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence
Earlier this month, the Entrepreneurship and Product Innovation Center (EPIC) of the American University of Armenia (AUA) welcomed its 3rd batch of venture startup teams to the EPIC business incubator. During the course of the program, the teams will participate in a 12-week ideas-stage incubation training to shape their ventures, validate their business concepts, and build their respective business models. Having full access to the AUA ecosystem, the teams will participate in workshops, receive advising, and be mentored by seasoned entrepreneurs.
EPIC proudly introduces three of the nine startups that were accepted into the program this fall: RenderChain, Creatr, and Edwise. These ventures are designed to provide innovation in graphics and film using blockchain and artificial intelligence technologies.
Reaching Out to AUA’s Network of Supporters and Friends
EPIC is reaching out to the AUA network of contacts seeking support for these ventures. If you have experience in any of these industries or have contacts with similar platforms and technologies, you may be the right person to help us out. If you know of any potential partners or collaborators EPIC would welcome hearing from you. EPIC strives to support, connect, and advance its startup ventures. Please contact EPIC at [email protected].
To learn more about each startup, please read the brief profiles presented below:
RenderChain will help people who are specialized in 3D graphics, visual effects (VFX), film-making, animation, and motion graphics to get their software-made products into video faster and less expensively by creating a marketplace of available excess computing resources. There will be two different user types associated with their blockchain-based, peer-to-peer system: Render Requestors, who are users that submit render projects to RenderChain, and PC Providers, who are users that rent out their idle computing resources to complete these projects. Render projects will be collected worldwide and then distributed amongst the available resources, ultimately sending the rendered videos to the cloud.
Creatr will create a platform for the film industry to avoid two of the most frequently encountered issues: human and financial. It is challenging to find opportunities in the early stages of a film career, and Creatr aims to be a bridge between script writers, directors, actors, camera crews, and others. Once a team has formed and completed their project, they’ll be able to connect with investors and sponsors to implement their project. Currently, this is mostly done through the social media, which has often proved to be ineffective.
On average, editing a film takes 3-4 months, 80% of which is spent on technical editing and the remaining 20% on creative editing and decision making. Edwise is working to give filmmakers more time for creative editing by automating the most routine technical tasks through artificial intelligence ‒ continuity editing, color correction, correct ordering, and cutting shots. Currently, the team is conducting market research and using raw footage as data to run the algorithms. Before Edwise, one of the founders was accepted to the Harvard Crossroads Summer Program affiliated with the Harvard Business School. The other founder has developed a system of minimal logic of predicates and presented his findings at many universities, most notably Stockholm University.
For more information about these teams or EPIC, please visit epic.aua.am or write to [email protected].
The Entrepreneurship and Product Innovation Center (EPIC) is a platform for promoting entrepreneurial education, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and startup venture incubation. EPIC provides an ecosystem for the American University of Armenia’s (AUA) emerging entrepreneurs consisting of first-class facilities and collaborative workspace, programs and events, and a network of mentors, advisors and investors. EPIC fosters the understanding and application of entrepreneurship with students and faculty at AUA to craft high-impact multidisciplinary ventures.