Animoto Raises $25M for Video Slideshow Creation

Animoto, the video slideshow creation app company, has raised $25 million in funding after building its business on $5 million in the last five years.

The new round was led by Spectrum Equity Investors, a private equity firm whose investments include Ancestry.com, SeamlessWeb and SurveyMonkey, and also included previous investors Madrona Venture Group and Amazon.com.

Animoto, which takes users’ pictures and videos and somewhat magically processes them into a polished video, offers some short videos for free but charges $5 to $39 per month for more serious users. The company has more than three million registered users, of which 100,000 are paying subscribers. It has been cash flow positive since late 2009.

The funding will be used for product development, especially for mobile, said Animoto CEO Brad Jefferson. He noted that New York City-based Animoto started the year with 34 employees; it currently has 60, and he plans to grow to 90 by the end of the year.