Pioneering tech company closes £1.5m oversubscribed funding round
Salford-based pioneering tech company, Ittybit, has revealed the successful closure of a £1.5m oversubscribed funding round, led by Mercuri and Sure Valley Ventures.
Oxford Capital, angel investors, and Baltic Ventures were also involved.
The developer tools company said the investment will enable Ittybit to further its mission of making world-class AI-led media pipelines accessible to developers worldwide.
Ittybit provides cutting-edge APIs and tools designed to simplify the uploading, storing, and delivery of large video, image, and audio files.
The company said its technology has delivered impressive results for early customers. Strength:Lab, an online PE lessons provider for more than 80,000 children, reported an 80% reduction in bandwidth costs. Another client, a large podcast, successfully transcribed in excess of 1,000 episodes from their back catalogue, enhancing search functionality and building a robust content recommendation engine. Early adopters have used Ittybit to manage more than 100,000 images and 5,000 hours of user-generated video, demonstrating the platform’s scalability and reliability.
With the new funding, Ittybit said it is well-positioned to accelerate its vision of empowering developers with unparalleled media management tools, and expand its team within engineering and enterprise sales.
Founder, Paul Williams, said: “Ittybit was created to address the pain we felt handling large videos in our previous companies. We built the media tools we wished we’d had access to, and are making them available to all developers, because robust media workflows shouldn’t be so expensive or complicated that only the largest tech companies can access them.
“We knew we could raise capital, but it was important to bring investors onboard who can also provide commercial and operational expertise. Mercuri’s extensive media industry connections and investments in leading AI companies, plus Sure Valley Ventures’ specialist focus on AI aligns perfectly with our vision for the company. We have an ambitious mission and their support will help us get there much faster.”
James Pringle, Principal at Mercuri, said: “Mercuri is thrilled to invest in Ittybit, recognising that the future of media lies in instant delivery. As specialists in media and creative industries, we see Ittybit as a groundbreaking solution that excels in speed, quality, and cost efficiency. While it’s still early, we are enthusiastic about Ittybit’s potential to significantly impact and grow within the dynamic media landscape.”
Brian Kinane, founding Partner, Sure Valley Ventures, said: “Ittybit’s proprietary Machine Learning solution is transforming the costs of hosting media for both SMEs and Enterprises globally. This deal is a great example of why we established a northern office in Manchester – to find high growth AI companies with significant global potential.”
