Media tech company Amagi raises $100 mn from Accel, Premji Invest, others

Amagi, which provides software-as-service technology for broadcast and connected TV has raised $100 million from  Accel, Avataar Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, and existing investor Premji Invest, the investment arm of Wipro billionaire Azim Premji.  The venture funds have bought out the stake held by Emerald Media (an investment platform backed by KKR) and Mayfield India. Nadathur Holdings continues as an existing investor.

Amagi is tapping the $50 billion cloud-based video content creation, distribution, and monetisation market. The partnership will provide media companies the much-needed agility and efficiency to succeed in the traditional broadcast and the evolving OTT and streaming TV universe.

“Amagi will immensely benefit from the collective experience of Accel, Avataar, Norwest, and Premji Invest in rapidly scaling our business and expanding our global footprint,” said Baskar Subramanian, Amagi co-founder and CEO.

With over 800 channels on its platform, including playout and redundancies, Amagi has emerged as one of the largest cloud deployment partners in the world, with distribution in 40 countries across cable, connected TV, and OTT. In addition, it has developed deep technical integration with ad-supported platforms such as The Roku Channel, Samsung TV Plus, Pluto TV, Plex, Redbox, STIRR, VIZIO, Xumo, and other top 30 OTT platforms. It is providing one of the most comprehensive distribution coverages for content owners to reach their audiences in the US, LatAm, Europe, and Asia.

The company’s revenues have grown by 136 per cent in the fiscal ending March 21. This momentum continues, driven by 44 per cent YoY growth in new customers, including marquee brands such as NBCUniversal, USA Today, and ABS-CBN.

“The global media and entertainment industry is poised for unprecedented growth,” said Shekhar Kirani, Partner, Accel. “Amagi’s cloud-based technology is enabling content owners - big and small - to reach wider audiences, deliver personalized content, attract advertisers, and reduce the cost of operations.”

Amagi said it enables up to 40 per cent savings in cost of operations as compared to traditional delivery models. As ad spends shift to connected TV and OTT,  the firm enables customers to effectively monetize their content libraries with its new product introductions. The company has been delivering 5-10x growth in ad impressions for some of its top customers.

The company also has a cloud broadcast operations center that can support over 1000 live linear channels. Amagi clients include A+E Networks UK, beIN Sports, CuriosityStream, Discovery Networks, Fox Networks, Fremantle, Tastemade, Tegna, Vice Media, and Warner Media.

“We have seen Amagi strengthen their leading position in the media SaaS market,” said Atul Gupta, Partner, Premji Invest. “This cements our confidence in Amagi.”

Nishant Rao, founding partner at Avataar Ventures, said media companies are striving hard to maximize revenues and stay profitable amidst shifting consumer preferences. Rao said Amagi accurately gauged the direction of the industry transition and pioneered cloud solutions to meet evolving media requirements.

“During my 15 years at Comcast, I saw many innovative media solutions, but Amagi is truly democratizing video content creation and distribution,” said  David Zilberman, general partner at Norwest Venture Partners.