The Software House team was chosen to rapidly scale StageClip's virtual graduation platform to an enterprise-ready product capable of serving 500+ educational institutions within just two months.
When COVID-19 hit in early 2020, StageClip faced an urgent situation. The company, which previously created personalized videos of in-person graduation ceremonies, had to pivot their entire business model. They signed a contract with 500+ educational institutions and needed to deliver a fully functional virtual graduation platform before March 2020 - with only a prototype in hand.
Partnership goal:
→ Build and deploy a scalable web platform that would enable hundreds of universities to host virtual graduation ceremonies, allowing students to upload videos and creating self-service tools to eliminate manual work for StageClip's small team.
StageClip
Before 2020, StageClip specialized in creating personalized videos from graduation ceremonies. When the pandemic hit, they pivoted to become an event technology provider, offering universities and high schools a platform to create and share clips from online graduation ceremonies.
Today, StageClip partners with over 1,400 educational institutions worldwide, including the University of California, Florida International University, and the University of St. Andrews.
INDUSTRY
Event Technology
COUNTRY
United Kingdom
SERVICE PROVIDED
Product Design & Development
Challenge
StageClip entered a massive contract with just a prototype. When COVID-19 forced universities to cancel in-person ceremonies, the company needed to completely transform their business model in record time.
Before partnering with The Software House, only 2 developers and occasionally the CTO created landing pages and video montages for clients. Every institution required custom branding - logos, colors, and imagery - meaning hundreds of unique setups. This manual approach simply wouldn't work at scale.
Key challenges and requirements:
-> Upgrade the MVP to handle hundreds of students uploading graduation speeches simultaneously
-> Build an online video editor allowing universities to create their own compilations
-> Create self-service landing page generation so institutions could customize their pages without developer involvement
-> Develop a self-service video editor for universities to assemble and customize graduation videos
-> Deliver a production-ready platform within 2 months to meet the March 2020 deadline
-> Ensure the system could scale to serve 500+ institutions immediately
Solution
We built an entirely new web application from scratch using React, Node, and AWS. Rather than trying to patch the existing prototype, we created a modern, scalable architecture designed to handle the immediate influx of 500+ institutions and future growth.
The solution focused on two critical self-service functions that eliminated manual bottlenecks.
-> First, an automated landing page system where each institution uploads their logo, images, and selects their brand colors from a tested template format.
-> Second, a video editor powered by an After Effects template synced with the cloud, allowing universities to change the order of video clips, adjust subtitles, and modify info bar colors without any developer involvement.
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StageClip app functionality example
Process
Team Composition
The dedicated team started lean for rapid development and later scaled up to 22 specialists at peak, including:
8 Developers
4 QA Engineers
2 Project Managers
Technology Stack
Frontend: React
Backend: Node.js
Cloud Infrastructure: AWS
Video Editing: After Effects templates with cloud sync
Timeline & Development Process
The initial development phase lasted just 2 months (November 2019 – March 2020) to meet the critical deadline. The partnership continued for 2 years total, with ongoing product improvements and scaling.
Key Implementation Details
Self-Service Landing Page System
Each client receives a tested page format where they upload their logo, images, and choose their preferred colors. The system automatically generates a fully branded landing page that matches their institution's identity - no developer time required.
Cloud-Based Video Editor
We integrated After Effects templates that sync with the cloud. Universities can change the order of video clips, modify subtitles, or adjust info bar colors through a simple interface. Once edited, the template updates automatically and the new version goes to the cloud for rendering.
Clip Delivery & Survey System
The platform includes an automated clip delivery system that sends personalized videos to each graduate. Built-in survey functionality collects valuable alumni data about career choices and future plans. According to StageClip, 93% of graduates who used the product completed the survey - far exceeding the 33% average response rate universities typically see.
Handling Rapid Scale
The two-month sprint focused on creating a stable, production-ready platform that could immediately serve 500+ institutions. The team met the March 2020 deadline, successfully onboarding all contracted universities on schedule.
Check similar case study:
→ StageClip's cloud costs shrunk from $30,000 to $2000 per month
Outcome
In just 2 months, StageClip onboarded 500+ universities on schedule and during the 2-year partnership served 1,441 graduation events with 455,000 users and 2.4 million emails sent.
→ Met the March 2020 deadline and onboarded 500+ universities in just 2 months
→ Served 455,000 students across 1,441 graduation events with 2.4M emails delivered
→ Achieved 93% survey completion rate, nearly 3x the 33% industry average
