Tech company Restream has raised $50 million to expand its operations and help launch Restream Studio, a new branding tool that will let users customize their livestreams across multiple platforms.
The Restream platform works by connecting with linked social accounts, including the streamers’ Twitter, Facebook, Twitch, LinkedIn, and YouTube profiles. Restream’s platform also has a chat function that aggregates social messages into singular feeds and lets users communicate with their fans in real-time.
The Restream Studio will have an analytics monitoring software and branding function, too, to make it easy for businesses or brand-heavy streamers (Ninja, for example) to keep tabs on their audience and customize their streaming visuals.
The Series A investment was led by Sapphire Ventures and Insight Partners, both new investors in the company. Sapphire Ventures has backed several heavy-hitting tech exits in the past decade, including LinkedIn and cloud-sharing software Box.
With this round, Restream has raised a total of roughly $55 million since its 2015 launch, according to funding tracker PitchBook Data Inc.
Restream chief executive Alex Khuda said in a Thursday blog post that the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the company’s growth. Khuda also noted that he expects the community of livestreamers using Restream to broadcast to multiple platforms at once will continue to grow as streaming continues to gain viewers during the pandemic.
Restream reports over 2 million creators use its platform to broadcast over 8 million monthly livestreams. The company’s estimated average monthly viewer base is 750 million.
“Over the last year, we have experienced tremendous growth. As COVID has quickly forced all types of businesses and creators to adopt livestreaming, our team has been working around the clock to bring the best livestreaming tools to our community during these times,” Khuda said. “Today, livestreaming is more important than ever. This pandemic has up-rooted every type of in-person event — concerts, conferences, classes, and so many more…. so we set out to build a game-changing production studio that would make livestreaming any type of event, be that from your computer or mobile phone, super easy to all your major social media platforms.”