American Idol & YouTube made a love baby, & they named it VidioVibe

VidioVibe puts on video contests that anyone can vote on in hopes that it will propel the most entertaining videos into the public eye. Video creators who sign up for the service are invited to submit their work to both weekly and monthly contests and have a chance to win prizes (actual money) for their efforts.

“If American Idol and YouTube hooked up and had a baby, they’d call it VideoVibe,” said chief operating officer Charlie Cromwell at the DEMO Conference in Santa Clara, Calif.

The site, which initially launched from student video contest site OnVidi, doubles as a social network where users are prompted to vote, promote, and talk about videos they like as well as socialize with other VidioVibe users.

“I think models where you’re paying a consumer to do anything is challenging over time … the model left me with a lot of questions,” said Jay Goldberg of ThinkEquity at DEMO.

VidioVibe officially launches into beta at this week’s DEMO event, with a mobile version of the service coming in the near future. The company plans on hiring additional in-house developers and other employees to help grow the company.

Founded in 2011, the Montana-based company has raised a total of  $2 million in seed funding from 7 Bar 3 Investments. VidioVibe said it will likely seek a fresh round in 2013.

Second photo via Stephen Brashear, top image courtesy of kirillov alexey, Shutterstock

VidioVibe is one of over 75 companies chosen by VentureBeat to launch at the DEMO Fall 2012 event taking place this week in Silicon Valley. After we make our selections, the chosen companies pay a fee to present. Our coverage of them remains objective.