Catch+Release Announces Strategic Investment from Canadian Tire Corporation’s Roller Labs Ventures
• Capital Infusion to further advance how brands properly license authentic visual content
• Highlights the strong demand for user-generated content
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Catch+Release, the leading content licensing marketplace, today announces a new investment from Roller Labs Ventures, the corporate venture capital fund of Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited (“CTC”). This new injection of funds will drive the evolution of how authentic visual content is accessed, licensed, and delivered in promotional campaigns for CTC retail banners and consumer brands, including Canadian Tire, Party City, SportChek, Mark’s, and Helly Hansen. This capability translates to genuine narratives that forge deeper connections with customers across many of CTC’s verticals: general merchandise, sporting goods, apparel and footwear, automotive, financial services, and more.
Catch+Release is revolutionizing visual content creation and delivery using an innovative tech platform, ultimately transforming how businesses engage audiences through authentic storytelling. For Roller Labs Ventures, Catch+Release's unique capabilities and shared vision represent a commitment to reshaping how content is sourced and delivered, resulting in engaging campaigns that build brand and drive sales. Furthermore, this strategic partnership supports Roller Labs Ventures' mandate to help drive innovation at CTC.
The investment aligns to three key themes in the market today:
Content Enrichment: There is strong demand for authentic visual content that resonates with diverse audiences. Catch+Release's marketplace fills this market gap, enabling businesses to craft more engaging and authentic narratives.
Efficiency Gains: In pursuit of innovative ways to augment traditional commercial shoots, user-generated content is increasingly valuable. Catch+Release is revolutionizing the content creation landscape, providing businesses with fast, efficient ways to enhance visual storytelling.
Compliance in Licensing: In an era of advanced technologies like AI and LLMs, there is a strong focus by brands to ensure content is licensed properly. Catch+Release’s platform helps brands do this in a seamless manner.
"This investment from Roller Labs Ventures represents a strong signal that there is a growing need to deliver real visual content from real people across all types of storytelling media. In a world saturated with staged visuals, Catch+Release stands at the forefront of a movement toward genuine and compelling storytelling. This partnership not only validates our mission but propels us further in our quest to redefine how companies communicate with their audiences,” said Analisa Goodin, CEO and Founder of Catch+Release.
“This investment presents us with a great opportunity to invest and partner with a leader in the user-generated content space. Catch+Release’s core capabilities will accelerate CTC’s ability to discover and license authentic content for its many retail banners and consumer brands,” said Rich Osborn, Managing Partner of Roller Labs Ventures. “RLV looks forward to working closely with the Catch+Release team to build a category-leading company in this exciting and dynamic market.”
About Catch+Release
Catch+Release is a content licensing marketplace for brands and creators. Marketers have peace of mind knowing that they can curate and license content within budget and on time. Brands should take creative risks, not legal ones. Catch+Release helps you find the gems to tell your story by curating from the most unlikely places. World-leading brands, including Meta, Amazon, Uber, Disney, Nike, and ESPN, bring high-performing campaigns to market with content sourced and licensed by Catch+Release. Submit your own content and get paid to do what you love. Catch+Release is backed by Accel, Cervin, Stagwell, HarborVest Partners, Rich Kleiman and Kevin Durant’s 35V, Nick Mehta, Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Roller Labs Ventures. Visit www.catchandrelease.com or LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok.
About Roller Labs Ventures
Roller Labs Ventures (“RLV”) is the corporate venture fund of Canadian Tire Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. Canadian Tire is one of the largest general retailers in Canada with close to 1,700 retail locations and operations that cover mass merchandise, sports, apparel, auto parts, gasoline, and financial services. Roller Labs Ventures seeks to invest in companies that can meaningfully drive innovation across Canadian Tire’s operations and focus areas. RLV predominantly invests in Seed-Series B rounds and has an acute focus on companies whose offerings can be value-add to the corporation. As a result, Canadian Tire often looks to enter into a commercial agreement and become a customer of RLV’s portfolio companies. For more information, visit RLV’s website.
Media Contacts
Gabriela Rudolph
Jmac PR for Catch+Release
catchandrelease@jmacpr.com
