Post and Courier: Charleston-based Booster to blend live video with fundraising in new app
December 19, 2016
By Thad Moore
Live-streaming mobile video surged into popularity not even two years ago, but the concept has become so commonplace that it’s already easy to forget life before Facebook Live and Periscope.
The competition, driven by some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley, is fierce. Just ask Meerkat, the company that started the craze last spring. Its streaming service shut down this fall, overwhelmed by the resources of Facebook and Twitter, which owns Periscope.
But the Charleston startup Booster — formerly known as Crowdr TV — thinks it can carve out a niche in the business by building a streaming platform that uses live video as a fundraising tool. Its app is set to launch next month.
Co-founder Zach Pippin said the company was initially focused on building a tool for politicians to talk with supporters and raise money, since he and CEO Michael Stevens started their careers in politics.
