Jungle Creations

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]

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

History

VT

In 2014, Jamie Bolding founded Viral Thread at his mother's house in Surry, 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. 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. Bartholomew, Emma. "Start-up-of-the-week: Hackney entrepreneur launches delivery-only restaurant through Facebook video recipe page". Hackney Gazette. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  8. 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. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  10. 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".
  21. https://www.forbes.com/30-under-30-europe/2018/media-marketing/#6eeadcd41793
  22. "Fast Track".
  23. "The FT 1000: Third annual list of Europe's fastest-growing companies". March 2019.
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