Start-up Myelin Foundry promises buffering-free OTT viewing experience

India is witnessing a rise in over-the-top (OTT) or video-streaming platforms, thanks to cheaper mobile data. It has, however, led to a spike in data disruptions, resulting in poor video resolution and taking a long time to start up. Myelin Foundry, a deep-tech product start-up, offers to enhance viewer experience through OTT players by building artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms on video, voice, and sensor data for edge devices.

Last week, the Bengaluru-based start-up closed a $1-million seed funding round led by Endiya Partners with an investment of $500,000. The deficit was invested by friends, family, and angel investors, it claimed. The company will use the funding to accelerate product development and market penetration. 

Myelin Foundry, launched in January this year, was conceptualised in the technology war room of the Tata group. Ganesh Suryanarayanan and Aditi Olemann were working in the tech and innovation team of the company, with Gopi Katragadda as chief technology officer. The trio wanted to build a deep-tech start-up “that will make in India and deliver global-first solutions”. 

The word ‘Myelin’, meaning the protective sheath around a neuron, was chosen since it is an AI company and AI is inspired by human intelligence, explained Olemann, the head of Myelin’s media marketing. 

Besides improving the viewing experience, the platform enables the media and entertainment industry to reduce time and cost, and deliver new AI-powered content. The team claims to be working in the wellness and national security segments, too. “Our AI platform tracks one’s health and wellness parameters,” said Olemann. The company will launch this subscription-based product targeting wellness players after the completion of ongoing clinical trials. Currently, the company has paying clients for its national security product.

According to a Boston Consulting Group report, India’s OTT market is estimated to reach $5 billion by 2023, driven by rising affluence, increasing data penetration in the rural markets, and adoption across demographic segments.

Myelin is in advanced stages of discussions with major OTT players in India and overseas, which can use its AI platform to offer no-delay, on-demand super-resolution OTT streaming video to end users with minimal re-buffering, even in low network. “We will be learning the content being provided by OTT players on the server-side and will be streaming them in low resolution by upscaling on the edge with the help of AI,” says Olemann, adding the start-up is looking at the entire value chain, both on content creation and content delivery and viewing.

“Myelin aims to be the global leader in content-aware abstraction platforms to disrupt multimedia creation and consumption across industries,” said Chief Executive Officer Katragadda.