Epoch Inc. has kept itself hidden from view, even in its home community of Vancouver, as it built the foundation for its goal of revolutionizing the giant video editing industry.
This week the company, formed just last year, disclosed that it had raised more than $2 million in venture capital. Epoch also launched its website, epoch-inc.com. David Barton, company president and CEO, expects to have products ready for the commercial market by June.
During its formative period, “we didn’t want anybody to know about us,” said Barton, 44, who at one time worked as a researcher for Hewlett-Packard in Vancouver.
Epoch says its technology unifies all of a company’s resources — laptops, desktop computers and servers — to speed up processing and reduce costly workflow delays in video and other media production. It offers the option of cloud storage service as a way to move projects quickly through complex workflows in formatting, sound, and video quality, among many other elements of production.
“We are at the deep end of scientific pool,” Barton said. “Hard-core science is brought to bear on this.”
Other companies offer some elements of workflow management, Barton says, but none are as comprehensive as what Epoch will offer. He likens the technological sophistication of video editing to that of the Internet during its infancy in the early 1990s, with fast opportunities for improvement
There are, he said, “more solutions than atoms in the universe.”
The company, based in Vancouver’s Tech Center, now has 15 employees and Barton says he hopes it will double in size over the next year. “We have huge ambitions,” said Barton, who also worked in research and development at Intel. “We believe we can be a multi-billion-dollar business in a multi-billion-dollar industry.”
The company disclosed its acquisition of $2.07 million in venture capital — which will finance the company’s launch — in a Tuesday filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Epoch will unveil its products at the National Association of Broadcasters trade show in Las Vegas early next month, and will follow with beta testing in May and full release to the market in June, Barton said.
Barton said he can draw from the talent pool of people whose background includes work in Clark County at Hewlett-Packard, Sharp Laboratories, and Apple, as well as Intel in Oregon.
“People don’t realize that the Vancouver area has a world-class wealth of experts in video imaging processes,” he said.
Editor’s note: Epoch’s president and CEO is David Barton. An earlier version had an incorrect first name.
