Above: Jude McColgan, president,, left, and Dave Arnold, CEO. Photo by Matthew J. Mowry
Before YouTube, you’d rely on old school training manuals. But imagine trying to use one with no table of contents, index or chapter headings. Instead you must flip through the whole thing every time you wanted to find information. “It’s still useful information, but you’re not able to find things quickly,” says Dave Arnold, CEO of Retrieve Technologies in Manchester.
That’s how training videos still exist online. Sure, you can find a video easily through a search engine, but then you’re left to fast forward and rewind to find specific content within that video. So while video is a popular way to impart information, it’s still clunky as a training tool. Retrieve Technologies is seeking to change that.
“If a picture is worth a thousand words, video is worth 10,000,” Arnold says. “We looked at what if we took video and went [in] the opposite direction, and you were able to come up with a table of contents, index and searchable information.”
Retrieve’s technology is based on a knowledge management system that Arnold came across as a consultant. He saw its potential use for video and purchased it to start Retrieve.
Retrieve’s technology enables every phrase in a video to be indexed and searchable. It also lets users build searchable video libraries. Additionally, the technology allows companies to certify someone watched the content, and, in the case of training videos, ask the viewer questions to ensure they understood the information, Arnold says.
The firm can also create QR codes for pieces of equipment that, when scanned with a smart phone, would bring up information about that equipment, Arnold says, including manuals. The app can also send notifications if a video, or “knowledge unit,” has been updated.
“When we built this we looked at ebooks, Youtube, iTunes and apps. We took key points out of each,” Arnold says. “What if you were able to package things in the organizational structure of an ebook but with video like Youtube and deliver it on your phone like an app and have it be purchased like an iTunes song?”
It took the company about a decade to bring its technology to market as it had to wait for other technology to catch up, Arnold says. This includes cloud technology for efficient data storage, smart phone technology and 3g and 4g coverage. “We felt like we were too early,” says Jude McColgan, president. “This summer felt ready.”
Among its customers is the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which switched software and needed to train 1,500 people in 30 offices, but wanted to use the same two trainers. Rather than invest in the expense and time to have the trainers travel the country to train employees, the USDA turned to Retrieve, which filmed the trainers over two weeks, teaching them how to use the software. Retrieve then produced knowledge apps that employees could download and access anytime. The USDA paid $250,000 for the project, saving the department $1.5 million in costs that would have been associated with in-person training, Arnold says. Employees can also go back later and look up specific sections of the training videos to answer questions that arise.
The firm works with corporate clients as well as content creators looking for a platform. It also creates original content that it makes available for purchase.
Retrieve Technologies, which started in Henniker with eight people, has raised $10 million in venture capital for marketing and sales, and the company has grown to more than 40 employees, with plans to hire 40 more. It recently moved from the Waumbec Mill to a larger space at 100 Commercial St. in Manchester to accommodate growth.
McColgan says the e-learning market has been growing 20 percent annually, creating big opportunity for Retrieve. He estimates the firm could generate $20 million to $30 million in revenue within the next two to three years. “And we’re on track to do that,” Arnold says.
Current Issue - May 2024