Taking on YouTube: CollegeHumor, Vimeo, and Plurk Cofounders Join Rumble’s Advisory Board

January 24, 2014

Last October, Rumble launched its video platform at Web Summit 2013 in Dublin, Ireland, including the simultaneous launch of its Windows 8 desktop app, Android app, and iOS app.

At the time, the Toronto-based startup made clear its lofty goal of creating a video platform experience that surpasses the likes of YouTube and Vimeo by directly targeting video creators. Now it has Josh Abramson to help it achieve that goal.

Abramson is the cofounder of Vimeo and CollegeHumor, so he knows a thing or two about success in the online video space. The entrepreneur has joined Rumble’s advisory board.

Also joining the Canadian company’s advisory board is Kan Singh, who cofounder both Plurk and Zippy Videos, which was around long before YouTube existed but was forced to shut down due to a lack of funding

“Video creators lack options and choice when it comes to video platforms, and they are not earning revenues they deserve. Rumble solves this by providing creators access to 63% of the video market, which lives outside of YouTube,” says founder Chris Pavlovski. “Not only is the majority of streams happening off the YouTube platform, but video is being monetized much better off YouTube.”

Last year, Rumble boasted a potential distribution reach of over 800 million users monthly, due in part to its relationships with media companies around the world, notably Shaw Media, Sun Media, Bell, Microsoft, and Yahoo. Now the startup has partnered with potential competition to work together moving foward.

“We watched YouTube crush Zippy Videos before 2005, we watched sites like CollegeHumor and Jokeroo pivot to create its own niche. We even watched Vimeo pose a really serious threat. But in 2014, all those minds have finally come together,” the company wrote on its blog. “We at Rumble are so happy to announce that both Josh and Kan have decided to join Rumble’s advisory board. With their help and their direction, we will push to become a YouTube alternative for video creators and the best social video news provider for all of our publishing partners. We feel strongly that we are ready to take it on.”