• TechCrunch, Tuesday, August 30, 2011 11:40 AM

Live video-streaming site Justin.tv is spinning off its Socialcam app as an independent company. Leading a small team of Socialcam's original engineers, Justin.tv co-founder and CEO Michael Seibel will become CEO of the new company. Taking the reins at Justin.tv is co-founder and current CTO Emmett Shear.

"The app adopted a model that's very similar to Instagram's, with a 'follow' system and quick sharing to services like Twitter and Facebook," TechCrunch explains. Successful beyond anyone's expectations, the app was downloaded 1 million times in its first four months on the market. Also promising is the fact that 32% of users who have signed up for the service have created a video, according to Seibel.

Justin.tv will have a stake in Socialcam, which is currently in the process of raising additional funding. Justin.tv is busy on a second project that began around the same time as Socialcam, TechCrunch adds. Named Twitch.tv, it's a gaming-focused streaming video portal, and, according to Seibel, is already attracting 8 million unique viewers per month, who watch over 1 billion minutes of video.

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