Image: © Oliver/Stock.adobe.com
Restream raised $50m in Series A for its technology, which has been described as a ‘game changer’ by the World Health Organization’s multimedia producer.
On Thursday (27 August), multi-platform livestreaming company Restream announced that it has raised $50m in Series A funding, in a round led by Sapphire Ventures and Insight Partners.
The company, which enables users to stream simultaneously across more than 30 platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Twitch, was founded in Ukraine in 2015. Restream’s user base includes gamers, entertainers, politicians and celebrities.
Users can brand their video content with overlays, logos and watermarks, and use Restream’s chat and analytics features to engage with viewers across different platforms in real time.
Increased demand for livestreaming
With the latest round of investment, the company plans to expand its product offerings and grow its global footprint. Restream said that more than 8m live streams are broadcast on its platform per month and it has seen 300pc growth in livestreaming views since January 2020.
Sapphire Ventures managing director Paul Levine and Insight Partners managing director Teddie Wardi will join the start-up’s board of directors.
The start-up also announced the launch of Restream Studio, which will enable businesses to broadcast live content from the cloud to viewers across various social media platforms. Restream said that this feature is “as easy as hosting a Zoom call”.
Alex Khuda, co-founder and CEO of Restream, said: “As the world shifts entirely to online and virtual, livestreaming has become an essential way for creators and brands to engage their communities around the world. This year, we’ve seen our growth skyrocket.
“Livestreaming is now critical to every organisation’s social media strategy. Our mission has always been to make it super easy to go live on all your social platforms and with this new investment, we will continue to bring new, powerful solutions like Studio to market to support our quickly growing community of creators and businesses.”
In April 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) streamed its One World: Together at Home concert using Restream, as well as through television networks worldwide.
Christopher Black, multimedia producer at the WHO, said: “Communicating health information on Covid-19 in real time is critical to helping people protect themselves, their loved ones and their communities. Restream helps us broadcast our live products simultaneously to five platforms.
“This has made our workflow much more efficient as well as reliable and has allowed us to make more creative and informative products available to an ever wider and growing audience. We have recently started using Restream Studio and it has truly been a game changer for us.”
Alongside the WHO, customers using Restream include Microsoft, Red Hat, Salesforce and Ubisoft.
