MUSO has raised GBP2.5 million in Series A funding from Harwell Capital. The investment will be used to expand the company’s current capabilities around sales and marketing, as well as bolster its technology and operations infrastructure and support.
MUSO tracked more than 191 billion global visits to websites hosting unlicensed content in 2016 alone. It is a problem that the entertainment and publishing industries have struggled to solve as traditional solutions have focused on a small proportion of the market. MUSO’s approach is unique as it provides an all-encompassing overview of the entire piracy market, ensuring content protection strategies are more effective. Its dataset covers more than 200 countries and monitors all major forms of piracy activity, including streaming, web -downloads, public and private torrents and stream rippers.
While most anti-piracy technology providers focus on content protection and take-downs, MUSO’s approach offers more innovative solutions to the problem. Its suite of products allows rights-holders to not only protect content, but also shine a spotlight on the behaviour of the consumers of illegal content, connect with them and redirect them to official channels. The company’s data-driven insights empower rights-holders across the music, film, television, software and publishing industries to make better decisions for content planning and distribution, as well as retrieve the vast revenues currently being lost.
Harwell Capital, a Jersey-based Venture Capital investment firm, is an established investor in innovation and new technology. The team looks for proven businesses, with exciting proprietary technologies capable of solving real-world problems, and experienced management teams with both vision and the single-minded focus to deliver results.
Daniel O’Brien, Managing Director of Harwell Capital, says: “We’ve been really excited about MUSO’s proposition since we first met the team. Not only has its innovative, automated, data-led approach solved the online piracy problem, but it’s also turned the way piracy is viewed on its head. Through data, insights and monetisation, MUSO has built a world-class solution to piracy that has the potential to completely transform the way illegal content is dealt with. We look forward to joining the journey with MUSO.”
MUSO is a technology company defined by its founders’ origins, knowledge and passion for the entertainment industry. Co-founded by Grammy nominated producer Andy Chatterley, technology entrepreneur Christopher Elkins and enterprise technology expert James Mason, the inspiration behind MUSO stems from personal experiences of the distribution of unlicensed content.
Andy Chatterley, co-founder and CEO of MUSO, says: “Harwell Capital is the perfect investor for us. The team has deep experience in backing revenue generating, scalable technology companies in a high-growth stage and so completely understands MUSO’s aims and ambitions. We have an exciting pipeline of business and Harwell’s investment and strategic advice will enable us to more quickly take advantage of the market opportunity.”
