Transform the way companies communicate. That’s been the mission of Raleigh-based startup Newsco since it was founded in 2017.
Newsco, which was slated to present at CED’s now-postponed Venture Connect Summit, was inspired by CEO and Founder Mario Mazzardo noticing how corporate communication is under-tooled and that so many large monitors in workplaces stream irrelevant content. At your everyday doctor’s office, for instance, you might see mindless commercials like those for McDonald’s.
Mazzardo previously was the Co-Founder and CTO of solidThinking, a software solution in industrial design. After leaving solidThinking at the end of 2012—four-plus years after it sold to Michigan-based Altair Engineering— Mazzardo consulted for many companies. It was through those experiences that he recognized the need for Newsco in the professional environment.
Operating as a SaaS content management server, Newsco ensures that the content on every TV-like channel that clients use can be specific for the area and audience they are targeting, whether customers or employees. There was one thing in particular that had been missing, said Manal El-Ramly, Newsco’s Chief Communications Officer.
“The secret sauce is adding news,” El-Ramly said. “That’s where the ‘Newsco’ comes from—it’s news that’s relevant to the industry and relevant to the audience. So it’s curated and customized and sourced from the world of the web.”
Newsco’s AI technology can bring in trustworthy news outlets or social media content relevant to the industry and audience of a company, similar to what Bloomberg TV offers for the financial world, but for any company or industry. Although the idea behind Newsco has been in the works for years, the Newsco product fully launched just a few months ago.
“It’s moved from an idea to a company that has employees and an executive team and aspirations and inspiration,” El-Ramly said. “So you see the seed growing into this little budding flower.”
The Triangle is home to a successful tech ecosystem, and it is here that Newsco wants to coin the term ‘communication intelligence’ for businesses.
“It’s a beautiful place,” Mazzardo said of the Triangle. “This is the best place for an activity like this. This is the right place at the right moment.”
The Newsco team was looking forward to the summit. El-Ramly said that only good things can come from an environment with so much innovation like Venture Connect.
“Companies are making a change and have an opportunity to really be change agents in the Triangle,” El-Ramly said. “Housing it all together and putting together all of these investors and entrepreneurs and people that are excited for the future for the Triangle—and actually the nation because it extends well beyond our region—that’s just exciting to me. We’re just honored and excited to be a part of that.”
While the cornonavirus has postponed those summit-specific hopes for the near future, anyway, those sentiments remain just as valid. And if you’re looking for the eventual breaking news that Venture Connect is back on, let’s hope your company’s screens are broadcasting a content feed from Newsco.
