Leading worldwide pre-seed venture financing firm Techstars has chosen startup Shutterspeed for investment.

Shutterspeed’s recent development makes it the third Kiwi firm to be backed by the US-based global startup network, which manages a $116 billion USD portfolio market cap.

To help creative professionals and content makers, Shutterspeed is creating a sophisticated AI-driven business assistant. The tool’s goal is to provide automatic, end-to-end performance tracking and measurements; according to co-founder Freddie McKenzie, this functionality fills a critical gap in the market.

“Henry and I have deep, specialist industry knowledge in production, and an equally large understanding of the struggles that owners in the space have,” said McKenzie. “Production companies need a better way to understand how time is spent, who is spending it on what, what resources are in use, and what client needs to be billed for it all, so we decided to build Shutterspeed.”

On the international scene, the automated performance metrics tool is a noteworthy turning point for New Zealand technology. One of Shutterspeed’s benefits is its ability to track time automatically without requiring manual input at different phases of production. The goal of this is to simplify the distinct and erratic workflows that characterize contemporary digital artists.

Shutterspeed gives creative workers access to real-time data on project schedules, profit margins, and productivity thanks to its Contextual Conversational AI power. This ought to provide authors with effective project management tools. Automatic time monitoring for the production, post-production, and revision stages; real-time budget tracking with real-time updates; and deadline management via dashboard tracking and notifications are some of Shutterspeed’s key features. Additional integrations for programs like Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, and Lightroom are planned. The tool also interfaces with industry-standard creative programs like Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro, and Audition.

Henry Collinson and Freddie McKenzie, who were neighbors before becoming co-founders, worked together to build Shutterspeed. Their mutual love of invention and technology gave rise to the instrument. Originating from Auckland-based production company VIVID Creative, Shutterspeed was formally introduced as Nextdoor Technologies in early 2023.

Henry Collinson said of the difficulties and possibilities in creating Shutterspeed: “Creativity thrives on instinct, but when powered by data, it charts a clear pathway to success. We’ve all under-quoted and underestimated a project before, and eating into your own profit margin is never nice. With Shutterspeed being fully automatic, you can simply set and forget the tracker and focus on your creative endeavours.”

Collinson also emphasized the wider implications of Techstars’ choice of them. “We designed Shutterspeed to streamline workflows and improve pricing strategy for creative professionals and content creators. It’s a great honour to be selected by Techstars, and it’s an exciting moment for Kiwi tech startups to be recognised on the global stage.”

“Our country is fast becoming a hub of innovation, and Shutterspeed is proud to be part of that movement.”

At the moment, Shutterspeed is in the pre-alpha phase. To learn more about the tool’s potential, creative professionals are welcome to take part in free demo sessions.