Simplestream Secures Funding From Beringea To Rollout TVPlayer

Simplestream, a leading provider of ‘Over the Top’ (OTT) live streaming services for broadcast TV channels, is pleased to announce it has secured substantial funding from Beringea.

London(13 Oct 2014)

Simplestream, a leading provider of ‘Over the Top’ (OTT) live streaming services for broadcast TV channels, is pleased to announce it has secured substantial funding from Beringea. The investment will accelerate the expansion of TVPlayer, Simplestream’s B2C live TV streaming service, and facilitate the addition of more channel packs and multi-channel catch-up functionality.

TVPlayer is a live TV aggregator of more than 45 free-to-air channels, enabling consumers to watch their favourite channels in one place. Consumers simply go to tvplayer.com, or download the free TVPlayer app from the Apple, Google or Amazon app store.  In addition to streaming channels from the major Public Service Broadcasters (BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and FIVE), TVPlayer has agreements to stream popular content from a growing number of Freeview and Freesat channels, including 4Music, Heart, Food Network, Travel Channel, FashionTV, Colors, Rishtey, Al Jazeera and Euronews.

TVPlayer has been downloaded almost one million times in the UK since it launched and is consistently rated 4/5 stars across both mobile and tablet. In September TVPlayer launched on Freeview channel 241, bringing 16 new channels to internet connected Freeview HD TVs. TVPlayer is one of the few online platforms participating in BARB’s Project Dovetail, allowing TVPlayer’s viewing figures to be included within a channel’s official audience ranking.

Simplestream is a leading provider of live streaming and live-to-VOD services, whose broadcast clients include Discovery, Scripps, Box Television and SKY Bet amongst others. Simplestream’s B2B product, Media Manager, enables broadcasters to securely live stream broadcast content to any device and deploy complex “catch-up” services with ease. Media Manager is used to power TVPlayer, which is available to multi-channel operators internationally and on a white-label basis. Such is the growth in demand for live streaming services; Simplestream has seen 100% revenue growth year on year since its Media Manager was introduced to the UK market in 2012. The company now delivers services across Europe with further international expansion planned for 2015. 

Rob Hodgkinson, Investment Manager at Beringea, who will join the Simplestream board, commented:  “The success of TVPlayer to date demonstrates there is significant demand for a multi-device aggregator of live TV in the UK market. We have been impressed by the progress made by Adam Smith and his team. We are delighted to support the continued development of Simplestream and TVPlayer.”

Adam Smith, founder and CEO of Simplestream, added:  “With Beringea’s support, we will be investing further in TVPlayer as we seek to build a full TV replacement app, with live streaming and on-demand capabilities for high quality content. We are particularly excited by our content acquisition pipeline as major broadcasters increasingly recognise the ability to access a younger demographic of audience through TVPlayer and Simplestream’s Media Manager platform.”

About Beringea

Beringea is an international growth capital firm with offices in London and Detroit which invests in high growth companies. Beringea’s London office manages a number of funds, including the ProVen VCTs.  Beringea is a generalist investor with sector expertise in Media, Healthcare and Retail.  Beringea‘s previous investments have included Fjordnet, Espresso Education, Saffron Digital and Mergermarket.  Beringea LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.  www.beringea.com

About Simplestream:

Simplestream, founded in 2010, has grown to become a leading provider of multi-platform live streaming and catch-up TV services to broadcast and media companies. Its Media Manager, Media Hub and Media Player technologies simplify over the top (OTT) video operations and work-flows. Offering a cost-effective SaaS pricing model, Simplestream’s services are optimised for the sports, music, news, entertainment.  www.simplestream.com

About TVPlayer:

TVPlayer is an OTT platform launched in the UK by Simplestream, which streams live TV across multiple devices from some of the UK’s favourite free-to-air broadcasters.  www.tvplayer.com/