Tech
This startup enables companies to host video content on their own platforms. Check out the 15-slide pitch deck api.video used to raise $12 million.
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- Bordeaux-based api.video enables developers to incorporate videos on companies’ own platforms.
- It raised a $12 million Series A from MMC Ventures, with backing from Blossom Capital.
- Check out the 15-slide deck used to raise the fresh funds.
A French startup that provides developers with the tools to embed video content on companies’ native apps and websites has raised $12 million.
Short-form video content has burgeoned with the rise of TikTok and Instagram Reels, but building in-house infrastructure for video features is often expensive and time-consuming. Api.video has created a cloud-based platform that allows developers to integrate video content on companies’ platforms.
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Founder and CEO Cédric Montet said the startup provides companies with the infrastructure to embed videos via a single API, so developers can “bring this capability inside their operations” and effectively cut costs. “We ensure the video files work on any screen, from smartphones to smart TVs,” he added.
Api.video also operates the servers that power the videos that are played every day, through data centers. It has over 500 clients in Europe, including the likes of BNP Paribas and Bauer Media Group, and averages a delivery of over 100,000 minutes of video play per day.
Video consumption is also a significant driver of large carbon footprints, as video files playing on external browser tabs take up a lot of energy — which adds up over a period of time. By allowing developers to create in-house video features, api.video’s clients can help reduce the carbon output otherwise created by streaming hours of video on external platforms.
The startup makes its money “based on customers’ usage of the platform,” Montet told Insider. Api.video builds the transcoding and delivery tools, and based on what customers choose to do with these features, it generates an invoice based on these metrics.
While the company secured $5.5 million in seed funding in 2020, raising the Series A was much more challenging, Montet said.
“It has been quite a moment. I was expecting to close the round in three months, and it took six,” he added. “Investors are really focused on whether there’s a market fit, and they wanted to speak with customers and partners.”
The Series A was led by London-based venture capital firm MMC Ventures, which has previously backed flower subscription platform Bloom & Wild, and menopause app Vira Health. Additional participation came from existing backers Blossom Capital, Open Ocean, and Financiere Saint James.
Tony Nysten, principal at OpenOcean, said that the rise of video as a preferred method for consumers to gain information has meant that “video infrastructure has become a critical part of modern data infrastructure.”
With the fresh funds, which aim to give the startup an additional two years of runway, api.video will double its team by the end of next year, and grow its portfolio of clients.
Check out the 15-slide deck used to raise the Series A.
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