Jungle Creations
Company typePrivately held company
IndustryDigital media
Founded2014
FounderJamie Bolding (CEO)
Headquarters
London
,
United Kingdom
Number of locations
New York[1]
Area served
Global
Websitejunglecreations.com

Jungle Creations is a British digital media company that operates themed channels including VT, Twisted,[2] Lovimals,[3] Level Fitness,[4] Craft Factory and Four Nine.[5] Jungle Creations is based in London with an office in New York City.[1][6][7]

History

VT

In 2014, Jamie Bolding founded Viral Thread at his mother's house in Surrey, England. Initially, the site's focus was on collating already existent content,[8] however, Bolding soon started writing original content aimed at university students. The first piece of content produced was a listicle entitled "Twenty people you will meet at fresher's week."

In February 2015 the company's Facebook page reached one million likes.[1]

In 2016, the VT channel posted a video featuring the Hövding airbag bicycle helmet which became the most-watched video in the company's history with over 150 million views.[8][9]

In June 2017, the company opened an office in New York City.[10] The following month, it named Nat Poulter its chief operating officer and Sefton Monk its chief technology officer.[11] In August 2017, the company officially changed the name of Viral Thread to VT.[10]

Twisted

Jungle Creations launched the Twisted brand in March 2016. Initially, the brand posted food-related content on Facebook and Instagram but later added an option to order through Deliveroo or Uber Eats.[7]

The media brand opened new TV studios at London's Market Hall West End in 2019.[12]

In September 2016, the company's food-related channel, Twisted, partnered with Oreo to announce new Oreo flavours.[13][14]

Outside investment

In 2018, the company raised £3million in series A funding, from Edge Investments and former BBC Chief Executive John Smith. At the time, their plan was to explore commerce-based income streams such as pop-up restaurants, cookbooks and eCommerce, whilst expanding their services to include long-form content such as documentaries and TV mini series.[15][16]

Controversies

In February 2017, Jungle Creations attracted some controversy when it posted and began licensing a viral video featuring a female bicyclist being catcalled by men in a van. The video ended with the woman ripping the side mirror off the van and cycling away.[17][18][19]

Recognition

Forbes Magazine placed the company's founder, Jamie Bolding at 13 on their 2017 30 under 30 list.[20][21] The organisation reached fourth place on The Sunday Times Tech Track 100 league table,[22] and reached 14th place on The Financial Times 1000 fastest growing companies in Europe.[23]

References

  1. ^ a b c Finley, Sarah (28 November 2016). "Food for thought: The man who makes cooking videos go viral". BBC. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  2. ^ Munk, Naaman Zhou explained it to David (26 August 2019). "What is this chicken-stuffed deep-fried pizzadilla and why is it all over the internet?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  3. ^ TWK. "Fast Track". Fast Track. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  4. ^ Intellectual Property Office, Concept House (19 April 2019). "Intellectual Property Office - Trade Marks Journal". www.ipo.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Facebook giant Jungle Creations 'experiments' with eccentric e-commerce and events". The Drum. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  6. ^ Gale, Adam (12 May 2017). "Meet the viral video entrepreneur who gets 4bn views a month". Management Today. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  7. ^ a b Bartholomew, Emma (13 December 2017). "Start-up-of-the-week: Hackney entrepreneur launches delivery-only restaurant through Facebook video recipe page". Hackney Gazette. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  8. ^ a b Chapman, Ben (13 July 2017). "Jungle Creations: The unknown company behind the internet's biggest viral videos". The Independent. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  9. ^ Carlström, Vilhelm (21 September 2016). "The Swedish airbag for cyclists unexpectedly went completely viral". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 22 September 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  10. ^ a b Southern, Lucinda (3 August 2017). "With viral out of style, Viral Thread is rebranding as VT". Digiday. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  11. ^ Cleeton, Jenny (19 July 2017). "People on the move featuring ITV, Dentsu Aegis Network, Jungle Creations, GiveMeSport and Vice". The Drum. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  12. ^ "Everything you need to know about Market Hall West End". Evening Standard. 13 November 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  13. ^ Beltrone, Gabriel (26 September 2016). "Oreo Is Now Making Tasty-Style Recipe Videos for Some of Its Stranger Flavors". Adweek. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  14. ^ Velasco, Haley (21 September 2016). "Oreo debuts new cookie flavors with social channel Twisted". The Drum. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  15. ^ Torrance, Jack (3 December 2018). "Viral video maker Jungle Creations eyes offline expansion after netting £3m investment". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  16. ^ FinSMEs (3 December 2018). "Jungle Creations Raises £3M in Series A Funding". FinSMEs. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  17. ^ Cresci, Elena (22 February 2017). "Why a viral video of a cyclist's revenge on catcallers may not be all it seems". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  18. ^ Eleftheriou-Smith, Loulla-Mae (22 February 2017). "Female cyclist catcalled by man in van chases him down and exacts her revenge". The Independent. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  19. ^ Matyszczyk, Chris (22 February 2017). "Catcaller revenge video goes viral (but is it real?)". CNET. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  20. ^ "Jamie Balding, 26". Forbes.
  21. ^ "30 Under 30 Europe 2018: Media & Marketing". Forbes.
  22. ^ "Fast Track". Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  23. ^ Smith, Ian (March 2019). "The FT 1000: Third annual list of Europe's fastest-growing companies". Financial Times.

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