NEW YORK, June 24, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Wall Street Journal announced today the launch of 'WSJ Startup of the Year,' an episodic video documentary for WSJ Live, the Journal's online video platform. Pairing more than 40 global business leaders and entrepreneurs with 24 participating startups, Startup of the Year is WSJ Live's most expansive foray into original content programming to date and further strengthens the Journal's commitment to and expansion of online video, which currently generates between 20 and 25 million streams per month. The Journal's selection for 'Startup of the Year' will be announced in November, after nearly five months of working closely with the mentors featured in the documentary.
The Journal has engaged dozens of leaders and influencers to mentor the companies chosen for Startup of the Year. Some of those participating include: Peter Diamandis, chair and founder of the X-Prize Foundation; Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh; Google's Director of Engineering Ray Kurzweil; Vivek Wadhwa, Vice President of Academics and Innovation at Singularity University; and Jay Samit, President, ooVoo. Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, Ratan Tata, former chairman of Tata Group, Will.i.am, founder, i.am.angel, and co-founding member, Black Eyed Peas, and Tory Burch, co-founder, CEO and creative director, Tory Burch LLC, are also participating.
Overseen by Wall Street Journal Managing Editor Gerard Baker, along with Andy Regal (@ARegalMedia), the Journal's Head of Video Production, and Wall Street Journal Digital Network Deputy Managing Editor Gabriella Stern (@GabbyStern1), WSJ Startup of the Year documents entrepreneurs building businesses from the ground up in a range of categories from energy and education to health care and philanthropy.
"Video has been integral to our suite of storytelling tools since WSJ Live launched in September 2011," said Wall Street Journal Managing Editor Gerard Baker. "Some stories—like those of these startups and their extraordinary mentors—are best told visually. This is a remarkable opportunity for us not only to showcase WSJ Live, but also to provide a platform for our audience to engage more actively with our video content."
A new, mobile-optimized, interactive platform was built on WSJ.com exclusively for the project featuring individual pages for each mentor and startup, fully shareable content and a dynamically updating Twitter feed from all of the participants. Content on the platform is updated daily.
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the exclusive sponsor of the five-month project.
"We are thrilled to be the founding sponsor of WSJ Startup of the Year," said Marisa Ricciardi (@mricciardi), SVP, Global Head of Marketing for NYSE Euronext. "NYSE is committed to driving American growth by creating opportunities for small businesses, startups and entrepreneurs. In fact, we created the NYSE Big StartUp initiative in 2012, a nationwide jobs growth program designed to connect young companies and entrepreneurs with corporate America with that in mind."
NYSE is not involved in the creation of the content, which is solely the responsibility of The Wall Street Journal news department.
All 24 startups are based in the continental U.S., have a prototype or proof of concept in place, and less than $10 million in revenue. Each of the startups was chosen by editors at The Wall Street Journal.
The Journal has increased its coverage of startups with the launches last year of The Accelerators and Startup Journal, two digital offerings focused on the fast-growing and fast-paced worlds of entrepreneurship and startups. The Accelerators is a forum anchored by contributions from a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs, angel investors and venture capitalists, and technology and business thinkers. Startup Journal is a page on WSJ.com focusing on the world of startups, funding, founders and entrepreneurship, bringing together coverage from across The Wall Street Journal Digital Network.
WSJ Live is currently available on 30 platforms, including WSJ.com, Roku, Apple TV, Hulu and Xbox, among others.
To follow WSJ Startup of the Year and see the full list of participating mentors and startups, please visit: wsj.com/startupoftheyear
About The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is America's largest newspaper by total average circulation with more than 2.3 million subscribers and 36 million global digital visitors per month. In recent years, The Journal has expanded its core content offering to include coverage of the arts, culture, lifestyle, sports, and personal health, building on its heritage as the leading source of business and financial news. Published by Dow Jones, one of the world's largest news gathering operations with 2,000 journalists in more than 50 countries, the Wall Street Journal now spans 12 editions in nine languages, engaging readers across newspapers, websites, magazines, social media, and video. The Journal holds 35 Pulitzer Prizes for outstanding journalism.
