Nearly 20 years ago, Devo Harris was one of the masterminds behind Kanye West’s GOOD Music, putting the label on the map by signing his then college roommate, John Legend. It was an innovative move, as John Legend was the fist male R&B artist on the hip-hop centered label.
That ingenuity is still evident in Harris’s latest project post his exodus from music: video streaming.
His new tech startup, Adventr, which is described as a digital platform creating smart, responsive content, is a no-code streaming technology is changing that aims to put control back in the hands of creators.
“This is about what happens if you take video and give it all the capabilities and connectivity of the internet,” Harris told ESSENCE. “We need to be inspired. That’s why we’re putting out movies, and we’re building advisory boards of top influencers and creators around the world so you can see what’s possible.”
Adventr enables users to leverage its AI-powered platform to intuitively power immersive video content and share it across various social media verticals.
Per their website: Viewers can control stories, link to anywhere on the web, purchase products, initiate text messages or phone calls, drive software and so much more, completely through the medium we all love – video. Adventrs can then be shared wherever your viewers are – across social media, websites, enterprise video players, ad networks, and more with full visibility into user behavior.
The company was a slight departure from Harris’s deep involvement with hit-making. “In 2014 selling music is not the optimal industry position to be in,” said Harris in an interview with Forbes. “What I’m seeing is the amount of albums being put out decrease, but the amount of production and music makers is increasing, that dichotomy doesn’t really make sense as a place for me to be.”
Eight years later, Adventr is poised to democratize the video content industry and stakeholders are taking notice.
In 2021, the Grammy Award-winning producer and media executive, has announced a $5 million seed round led investor Paladin Capital with participation by Reinventure Capital, Invisible Ventures and John Legend.
But Harris said they’re just getting started.
“We have shareholders that I have a responsibility to,” Harris told ESSENCE. “And so I have to try to make as much money as possible for all of us. But equally as important is I want the kids that live around me and the other similar neighborhoods around the country to see someone that looks like them winning in this tech space. I’m not some Stanford grad. I’m from the same culture. Their parents probably listen to music that I used to make. {Representation} is equally as important to me as profitability. How can we bring this to market and get people on board? Not in a corporate way, but in a voice that is authentic to who I am and who these kids are.”