Licensing the Internet: Our Investment in Catch&Release

In my free time, I like to fly fish. My license plate frame even reads, “Catch and Release.” So when I heard about a company Analisa Goodin was building called Catch&Release, I was immediately intrigued. 

But this Catch&Release has nothing to do with fly fishing and that’s probably for the best. The team is doing something much more important: licensing the internet. The name comes from the platform’s ability to catch user generated content, license it, and release it to advertisers. 

The pandemic year brought many aspects of traditional advertising production to a halt, leaving the demand for user-generated content at an all time high. Even before that, brands were finding their audiences highly receptive to the authenticity of user-generated content. Despite the world giving off an exhaust of this content every day, leveraging it is difficult for brands. Simply finding and contacting the creator is arduous and then even when they do, then begins a long process of rights negotiation, licensing and clearing content. More often than not it falls through.

‍

The magic of Catch&Release is they’ve mastered and accelerated the process so advertising teams no longer have to. Through technology and human expertise, they’re able to secure necessary rights and track clearance approvals in real-time. Catch&Release is part contributor network and part cloud-based platform helping brands collaborate, discover and curate content. 

With skepticism towards big-tech and advertising at an all time high, the team’s vision is more important than ever: repair trust across the internet and give power back to everyday creators by ensuring they’re offered a fair exchange. Jeep, Mastercard, Google, Pfizer, TikTok are just a few of the many notable brands who have used the platform to work in a user-generated-content friendly way and build campaigns that resonate with their audiences.

Catch&Release isn’t just a great product, it’s helmed by an extraordinary team, including founder and CEO, Analisa Goodin.  Her first-hand experience in advertising drove her to build a simpler way for brands to create slick, custom ads with user-generated content. We are excited to support Analisa and the full Catch & Release team in the next phase of their journey.

Welcome to the Accel Family!

- Eric Wolford