21. Fullscreen

YouTube video network

George Strompolos, founder and CEO of Fullscreen
Source: FullScreen
George Strompolos, founder and CEO of Fullscreen

Founder: George Strompolos (CEO)
Date launched:
2011
Funding: $30 million
Industries disrupted:
Media, Social Media
Disrupting: Amazon, Netflix, Walt Disney
Competition: Machinima, My Damn Channel, Vevo

Remember when it took a network pilot to kick off a great entertainment career? Not anymore, and Fullscreen is proof of that. This Culver City, California-based company produces digital content and acts as a sort of management agency for comedians, singers, dancers—anyone with a YouTube channel and following. These so-called multichannel networks are hot commodities these days, as evidenced by Disney's $950 million purchase of another MCN—Maker Studios—in March.

Last June, Fullscreen raised roughly $30 million from The Chernin Group, Comcast Ventures and WPP.

Read MoreFULL LIST: 2014 CNBC DISRUPTOR 50

Now Fullscreen is reportedly in talks to sell to Hollywood studio Relativity Media. It has had many courtiers, including Time Warner and Yahoo. The attraction: The company has over 15,000 YouTube channels that garner a total of more than 20 million unique views each month. Its sales team works with artists to get top dollar for advertising on their YouTube channel and then helps them forecast their earnings month by month.

The company has a robust audio library that gives artists free access to more than 600,000 licensed songs and effects that they can use for their videos. Founder and CEO George Strompolos is the co-creator of the YouTube partner program, which allows people who post videos on YouTube run ads against them to make money.

On the company's name:

"When you watch a video in full screen, it expands to fill the screen and receive your undivided attention. Our mission at Fullscreen is to empower the next generation of video creators." -George Strompolos, founder and CEO

Tech

Latest Special Reports

  • CNBC Changemakers

    CNBC Changemakers: Women Transforming Business is an annual list spotlighting women whose accomplishments have left an indelible mark on the business world.

  • Geoff Cutmore, Steve Sedgwick and Karen Tso lead you into the open of the European markets.

  • The Just 100 is an annual ranking of America’s largest publicly traded companies on issues that define 'just' business behavior and reflect the priorities of the American public, produced in partnership with research nonprofit Just Capital.