Luma.io
Luma (formerly Midnox) allows you to record and share beautiful HD videos with real-time video stabilization, filters and zoom.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | investor | €0.0 | round |
| investor | €0.0 | round | |
N/A | Acquisition | ||
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
Midnox Inc., the developer behind the Luma.io mobile application, was a technology firm that specialized in mobile video enhancement. The company was founded by Alex Karpenko and Alexei Karpenko and was a participant in the Winter 2012 batch of the Y Combinator accelerator program. Midnox operated with a small team based in Palo Alto, California.
The company's core product was Luma, an iOS application designed to address the common issue of shaky footage in smartphone videos. Luma's primary function was its real-time video stabilization, which smoothed out handshakes and other unwanted movements as the video was being recorded, eliminating the need for post-processing. An updated version introduced "cinematic video stabilization" for even smoother results. The app featured a user interface similar to the native iPhone camera, providing a familiar user experience. Beyond stabilization, Luma offered users the ability to apply and change high-quality filters in real-time. A key feature was the non-destructive nature of these edits; filters and stabilization could be toggled on or off even after the video was captured.
The business model centered on providing a free application that also served as a video-sharing platform where users could follow friends, and like and comment on videos. The service was positioned in the competitive market of "Instagram for video" applications. In August 2013, approximately 18 months after its founding, Midnox was acquired by Instagram, which itself was a subsidiary of Facebook. This was Instagram's first acquisition and was seen as a move to bolster its own recently launched video capabilities against competitors like Vine. The acquisition was for both the company's talent and its technology. Following the acquisition, the Luma service was shut down on December 31, 2013, with the development team and their technology integrated into Instagram. Luma's stabilization technology was reportedly made live within the Instagram app.
Keywords: Midnox, Luma.io, video stabilization, mobile video, real-time stabilization, iOS app, cinematic video, video filters, non-destructive editing, video sharing, social video, Y Combinator, Alex Karpenko, Instagram acquisition, Facebook acquisition, shaky video, image stabilization, Luma Camera